Start Anew
by Inferno's Child
Summary: When a young boy was taken to Providence, he must accept the new changes in his life. Which means new friends, enemies, experiences and...maybe a new family. OC
1. Looks can be deceiving

**My first Generator Rex fanfic. The show and the characters don't belong to me (except one, you'll find out later)**

Rex, Six and Dr. Holiday were walking down the halls of Base, with Captain Callan guiding them through. According to him, they're gonna have a new temporary recruit, or a permanent one, if they meet their standards. Rex was mostly dragging his feet across the floor, causing a squeaking sound that was driving Six mad

"Rex, will you please lift your feet when you walk?" Six calmly asked the teen

"Hmph..." he sighed "Who's this new guy anyway? Is he another aggro-dude?" he complained

"Just wait and see" Callan replied as they stopped. Callan punched in the code that opened the door and revealed a chamber room full of locked up EVOs. One was a fat monster with 4 tentacles, banging against the metal door, it's rather visible since the door itself is transluscent. Soon after some walking and looking around, they finally arrived at their destination, cell # 2396.

Inside was a boy who looks around Rex's age. His hair was spiky and slightly longer than Rex's, and there are two white streaks running along them. He had very pale skin and a calm look on his face, as if he didn't notice they were there. He was clad in a red shirt, a black jacket with a stripe vertically along each sleeve, camouflage green pants and dark blue sneakers. When he looked up, he saw the four faces with his bright red eyes. He saw Callan's stern look, Holiday's slightly concerned one, Six's stoic face and Rex's curious stare and went back to look on the floor

"Who is he?" Holiday asked the captain

"Adrian. He's a half EVO"

"Half EVO?" Rex repeated, looking at Callan

"Yeah. He was found injured after he tried fending off one of the EVOs in his town. We took him in for medical treatment and for some examination on his nanites and powers" Callan explained

"How'd you know he's half EVO?" The young EVO asked

"His test results regarding his nanites reveal that only half the nanites in his body have been fully activated, which might be the reason why he is able to control his powers"

Adrian had been listening throughout the whole conversation. _Seems like they forgot the door isn't exactly sound-proof_, he thought

Callan then proceeded to unlock the door and motioned to bring the boy out. He complied and was shown more clearly in front of the three. He is shown to be exactly as tall as Dr. Holiday herself

"Adrian, this is Agent Six, Dr. Holiday and Rex. You'll be part of their sector for the time being" Callan introduced them. Adrian nodded and kept his calm stature. "You'll be tested to see if you're able to be a permanent recruit of theirs" he added

"Come on, let's go to the Training Room" Holiday said as she walked away, with the latter following. Adrian was observing the rest of the place once he outside the chamber. He always thought it smelled like someone left their socks out in the sun, so he was relieved o finally be free. He looked absent-mindedly at the white halls, not noticing that Rex was talking to him

"Hey, hey dude!" Rex said while waving his hand in front of Adrian's face

"Huh? Oh, sorry" he replied in a quiet tone

"So...Adrian, right?"

He nodded

"Half EVO? Kinda seems like you're the first one out there"

"Yeah, I guess"

"How old are ya?"

"12"

"Really?"

"Yeah"

"You seem more like my age"

"Well, you know what they say, looks can be deceiving"

**Sorry for the shortness and lack of dialogue for Six. I'll try better next time...**


	2. Don't touch

**Hi! Back again with the second chap, and yes, Adrian's my OC. Part of his life story will be revealed throughout the story. It's also kinda AU, so be prepared. Reviews will be greatly appreciated!**

"De...what?" Rex tried to repeat

"We're here" Six announced as they entire the room. Adrian saw the screens, buttons, levers and the big window in front of everything. When he looked down below, he saw a big, empty, white space. Rex led him to the door on their right and they went down the stairs to the big area below. Rex left him alone there and joined up with Six and Holiday. Holiday turned everything on and talked into the mic

"Adrian, you're first test will be on your reflexes, it tests how fast you will react" Holiday explained, then she pressed a button, which below, revealed numerous cannons pointed at Adrian

"Don't worry, those cannons only shoot out foam balls" she added

"You are to either evade these balls or try and catch them and throw them on the ground. The camera in the ceiling will record everything, to see if any of the balls have hit you. We will record your progress as this test goes on. Just remember that the speed of fire will gradually increase. The objective is not to get hit, or at least not get hit by too many balls. This test will last about 15 minutes. Let's try this out first" Six relayed. And with the press of a button, a green ball came out of one of the cannons. As if expected, Adrian turned around and grabbed it by the hand

"Okay, you're ready" and with that, Six pressed the button again, and the real test began. At first, Adrian was doing well, dodging every little sphere that came across him and catching a few as well. He's managed to make it through 5 minutes of the test without a single ball touching any part of his body except his hands. After those short minutes, the speed of fire did become faster. He had to dodge, dive, duck, catch and hit...probably all at once. A few balls might have hit him, but he shrugged it off as he continued with the test. It's already been 8 minutes since the beginning of the test and everything's starting to go blurry for the half EVO, but he still kept going.

Meanwhile, from the observation room, Holiday and Six were rather amazed by the boy's progress. But Rex got bored after 3 minutes so he was just walking around, hitting his head against the wall and whistling. Six got annoyed by his simple antics

"Rex, will you please be quiet?" Six told him

"UGH! This has been the longest hours of my life!" The 15-year-old complained, standing up from his chair and went near the wall

"We haven't even been here more than 10 minutes" Holiday answered, not taking her eyes off the boy at work

"Feels more like 10 hours" he mumbled and placed his hand on the table...or at least what he thought was a table. He accidentally knocked the knob which controlled the speed of the balls. What was once halfway through 'medium' was now on 'high'. At this, Adrian was surprised at the sudden change of speed. He tried to fend off the balls, but couldn't.

"HEY!" Adrian yelled. Stopping was a mistake. He consecutively got hit on the head, cheek, jaw and stomach. Holiday then turned off the machine

"Thanks. I-" but he dropped to the ground, because the last ball aimed directly at his groin, and it was a direct hit!

"Uh...you wanna rest for a while?" Holiday asked through the mic, shocked at what happened to the poor lad laying on the ground

"Yes, please" he replied in pain, before collapsing completely

**~ 5 minutes later ~**

Adrian was up and running again and was dodging every ball that came his way. Sure, he got hit too, but all in all, he did good. When the test finally finished, he was relieved and went back upstairs to rest for a while. While Holiday was reviewing his performance, Adrian and Rex talked for a little, mostly regarding the "accident"

"So...hehe, sorry, Adrian" Rex said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment

"It's cool, dude...but next time, I think it be safer if you don't touch anything anymore" Adrian replied

**Again...too short...**


	3. Hack

**Okay...no reviews...well, reviews or not, I'm still continuing the story. This time, it ain't a training thing, it's more of a brotherly bonding time with Rex**

Adrian was allowed an hour worth of rest before he started his next test, so he spent most of his time with Rex and Bobo, who was giving him a tour of the place. He was shown Rex's room, Dr. Holiday's lab, the Briefing Room (which he stupidly thought was a laundry room) and the most important place...the washroom. Bobo left to steal some tacos from the refrigerator so Rex and Adrian were just wandering around

"So...what do you think of the place?" Rex asked him

"Well...it's definitely...white" Adrian commented

"Yeah. The guys around here seem like they're begging to be blinded" Rex added, and Adrian chuckled

"Your name's Rex, right?" Adrian asked

"Yeah"

"So...Rex. How'd you end up in Providence?"

"It's kind of a long story, so I'll keep it short. Six found me in Mexico and took me in when he found out about my curing powers. Ever since, I was the 'secret weapon' of Providence. Sure the fights are a real beast, literally, but it helps everyone and they don't have to just cage up and kill those EVOs...that saves more lives than you think"

"Wow"

"By the way, how long have you've been in that cell?"

"'Bout a week or so. The stuff they serve there was terrible!"

"What food did they give you?"

"Food? More like goop...living goop"

"Woah. Some way to treat a kid"

"I know...I miss my family..." he said suddenly

"At least you still remember them"

"Huh?"

"I've got amnesia, so I don't remember anything but Providence and my name"

Adrian felt sympathy for the guy. Not being with your family is one thing, but not remembering them is just...tragic, as he put it. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder and said

"Hey dude, it's alright. One day you'll remember them and maybe you can start living a normal life once the war's over"

Though he knows what Adrian said wasn't exactly thought through, he smiled at that anyways

"Thanks" he whispered

"Hey, what's that room?" Adrian pointed out. It was slightly more different than the others. It was still white, but had a warning sign with an exclamation point on it

"That's the secret files room. No one but Six and Knight are allowed in there. Not even my nanites can hack into it" Rex answered. Adrian took a step closer at the control panel

"Maybe I can hack it" he said, taking out a screwdriver from his pocket

"I don't think you can"

"Don't be so sure...Rex, can you cover for me?" he said, starting to tinker around with the panel

"Sure" he said as he looked out for anyone coming.

Adrian was unscrewing the bolts on the control panel. Once he was done, he saw the different colored wires inside. He cut a yellow wire and stopped for a while. He thought for sure that some sort of alarm would go off or something...but nothing happened, so he continued working. He cut another wire, a blue on this time. He connected the two cut wires and returned the panel, when he punched in a random code, the door swooshed open

"Woah...how'd you do that?" Rex said in astonishment

"I've always been considered the techie guy of the family" he answered "Well, you coming in or what?"

Rex followed the pre-teen and looked around. There was a lone light in the middle of the room. The walls were all drawers, all of which have names of each agent still active in the agency. The first one they checked out was Captain Callan's. They found numerous pictures of him in elementary, high school, college and his early days in Providence. _Boy, is Providence a stalker organization too?_, they both thought.

Next, they checked out Dr. Holiday's profile. They found out she never had braces and her first name was Rosalinda. They also found a picture of her and her sister before she became an EVO. They looked sort of alike, except her sister was taller, had longer hair and ocean blue eyes. Her name was Miranda.

They got close to Six's files, but the closest they got to was seeing his first name, Samuel, and his picture, because an agent found them in the room

"Hey! What are you kids doing here?" he yelled in anger

"Uh oh..." they said in unison before they ran out the door to get away. The agent wasn't fast enough since Rex used the Rex Ride and took Adrian with him. They raced towards his room and hid there for a while, waking up Bobo

"Woah, what happened, chief?" the chimp said, still tired after being woken up from his comfy nap

"We kinda went to the secret files room and checked it out a little" Rex explained, shuddering at the same time

"What are you crazy?...Why didn't you bring me with ya?" he replied. Adrian chuckled a bit. Then they heard the footsteps of the agent, he was running off now, seeing as the boys weren't in his line of sight

"Whoo! That was close!" Adrian said

"You know, green man's gonna end up knowing about this, you know?" Bobo said

"That's what I'm worried about" Rex said, slightly panicking. Adrian looked at the clock sitting on the drawer...it was 2:55

"Rex...we gotta go for my next test" Adrian brought up

"Would you rather take that test or get killed by both Holiday and Six when that agent rats us out?" Rex yelled

"Good point"

They stayed there for a good half hour. They eventually relaxed more and started playing video games. Meanwhile, in the Training Room, Six and Holiday have been waiting for them for a long time

"Where are they?" Holiday asked, rubbing her temples, obviously worried

"They must've used the time to sleep, and haven't woken up yet" Six replied. He walked towards the door and opened it. He turned around and said "I'll go look for them" and left. In haste, she followed him. Suddenly, an agent ran towards their direction

"What's wrong?" Holiday asked

"Rex and some kid broke into the secret files" he said, out of breath

"This changes everything" Six said as he ran down the hall, aiming for Rex's room. Holiday ran too, trying to keep up with him (as if she could) and was just as furious as he is. When they reached their destination, Six didn't even bother to punch in the code anymore, he simply kicked down the door, revealing the boys playing their game, and didn't notice them until the last minute

"Hey! No fair!" Rex yelled

"So fair!" Adrian fought back

"What's so fair?" Six said as calmly as he could. The boys were surprised to hear the agent's voice and turned around to see his furious face, and the same look on the good doctor's face

"We're in so much trouble" they whispered to each other, and Six grabbed them by the collar of their shirts

**I was planning to make everything comical, so don't be too harsh on me...so yeah...**


	4. What about?

**Yey! I finally got one review! I finally have a reason to go on with the story, but whether I got that review or not, I'm still continuing. Anyways, thanks PenanceGirl for that review :). On with the story...**

Six put down the two young males on Rex's bed and stood firmly in front of them. Meanwhile, Holiday called up personnel to fix the door Six just broke down

"Rex, you know very well that you are not allowed in the secret files room" Six explained

"Hehe...well..." Rex tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing would come up

"It was, my fault, Six" Adrian said quietly "I was just curious and stuff. I mean, a 12-year-old plus a room full of secrets, that has got to turn on the inner child!" he added, trying to add a little humor to the situation, but it didn't exactly work

"Then Rex should've been responsible as well, to tell you no else is allowed in the room" Holiday spoke up after finishing her call

"Sorry" Rex said

"But, Adrian did pass one of the exams I was gonna put him on" she added, with a slight smile on her face

"I did?" Adrian said

"Yes, the 'technological intelligence test'"

"Oh...cool"

"Anyways, Rex, you are going to have training the entire day. No breaks whatsoever. 5 laps around the petting zoo, no machines at all" Six interrupted

"Hey, no fair! Are you trying to get me killed?" Rex retorted

"It's your punishment. I'm going to supervise. Dr. Holiday will be the one in charge of Adrian for the meantime" he said, taking the teen by the arm and dragging him out the room

"You know, Holiday shouldn't have called personnel, you should fix my door!" Rex yelled

"Shut up" Six said

"Are they always like this?" Adrian asked

"More than you know, kid" Bobo said, then went back to sleep

"Come on, let's get back to the Training Room" Holiday said and walked out, with Adrian following

"You know, you really shouldn't have hacked into that room. Everything there is classified. I'm disappointed but impressed at the same time. Not even Rex's nanites can hack into that room" Holiday commented

"Thanks...I think" Adrian said

"Your name's Adrian, right?"

"Yes"

"What do you think of Providence so far?"

"I guess it's...fine"

"What do you think of everyone here?"

"Uh...some of the agents are kinda...uptight. I've already met White Knight after my capture. He's...freaky"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. What about Rex, what do you think of him?"

"He's a great guy. Funny and cool"

"What about Six?"

"Scary...that's all I can say"

"What about me?"

"Y-You?" he stuttered. To be honest, he did gain a small crush on the woman (like Rex has, but not as big) but he can't really tell her that

"Uh...no offense, but I haven't really thought about that, but you're really pretty" he said, blushing slightly. Holiday had been expecting an answer like that from the boy, but having not heard the word 'pretty' for a long time, she blushed too

"Thank you" she replied

"What about you? What do you think of me?"

"You're a smart and witty boy. Funny and kinda cute"

"Thanks" he replied with a beaming smile

They finally arrived at the Training Room. Holiday gave Adrian a piece of cloth and told him to go down to the big area again

"Okay, you're next test will test your instincts. If the previous test tested your hand-eye coordination, this test will test your other senses, mostly your sense of hearing. You're not allowed to dodge any of the balls that will come your way this time, you're only allowed to catch them, got it?" Holiday explained. Adrian nodded in reply

"Good, now put on your blindfold" and Adrian did as told

"And remember, just like the previous test, the speed will gradually increase as the test goes on. But this time, the test will only last for 10 minutes"

"Okay"

Holiday pushed the button that released the cannons again

"Are you ready?" she inquired

"Ready" he said, taking a stance

"Okay" and she pressed another button that blew off the first foam ball. Adrian got hit by that, as he hasn't exactly adjusted to his sense of hearing. At first the balls came out one by one, but either Adrian missed the ball, or got hit by it

"This is harder than I thought" he said to himself. After he moved his hand a little, he managed to catch his first ball. He smirked at this and learned what to do now. He threw the ball on the ground and caught the following balls that came his way. But he also still got hit by a few balls as the speed increased. After 5 minutes, Holiday was already becoming concerned because he also earned a few hits on the head, chest, stomach and jaw. She knew they were foam balls, but he could see he was in slight pain, but kept on going. When the test was over, he ran upstairs and collapsed on the floor. Getting hit repeatedly obviously took a toll on him

"Are you alright, Adrian?" Holiday asked out of concern

"I'm fine" he said, standing up. The good doctor noticed small bruises on his jaw and forehead after being hit there the most times

"Are you sure you're alright? Even with those bruises there?"

"I'm fine really" and he rubbed his jaw slightly "You worry too much, you know?" he commented

"Well, if you're going to be part of our sector, you have to be in top shape all the time" she replied

"Hehe, well thanks for worrying about me...you kinda remind me of my sister"

"Your sister?"

"Yeah, she worries a lot about me"

"If that's the case then you must have a really caring sister"

**Yeah, yeah, Adrian's got a crush on Holiday, so what? Who wouldn't? I've been reading a lot of Holix lately and I've considered putting a little bit of Holix hints in my story...but only if I can. Just because Adrian's got a crush on her, doesn't mean he'll fall in love like Rex (creepily) has. Okay...that's all. In case you're asking why Adrian acts the way he is, I'm actually basing him from me when I was 12**


	5. Worried

Adrian was once again given another hour to rest before taking his next test. Since Rex was doing training, he didn't have much to do, so he stayed in the Training Room for a while, running around and back-flipping while Holiday was reviewing and grading his performance so far. Meanwhile, Rex and Six are back and went to the Training Room

"I swear Six, sometimes I feel like you're trying to kill me" Rex said as he entered the room. Holiday turned around to greet them but instead, she got worried because Rex had a lot of cuts and bruises on him

"Oh my gosh, Rex! Are you okay?" Holiday asked

"Do I look okay?" he said with a bit of sarcasm

When Adrian saw the door upstairs open, he went up to see them

"Hey, guys! How'd-woah..." Adrian said, but stopped after seeing Rex all battered up and hurt

"Come on, let's take you to my lab, we have to treat you" Holiday said, taking Rex out of the room

"After treating me, can I teat you to dinner tonight?" Rex said, obviously trying to flirt, but earned no answer from the woman. In the room, Six and Adrian were left inside

"He's right, you know?" Adrian started

"Right about what?" Six asked, though it sounded more like a statement

"It does seem like you're trying to kill him. And I thought you're supposed to take care of him"

"I'm supposed to look out for him. If he can't handle the pain then that's his problem"

"I think you have a problem" he murrmured

"Excuse me?" he asked, obviously having heard that

"Nothing, nothing" he replied. They stayed silent for a few minutes

"You...were worried about Rex, weren't you?" Adrian asked him. Truth be told, Six was concerned for Rex. Just as concerned as Holiday is of the boy. he was very overprotective of him. Why do you think he'd go out of his way to look for Rex when he broke out? But he dared not show it because he knows the consequences of attachments. He stayed silent

"Yeah, think about that"

Rex and Holiday came back to the room. Rex had bandages on his forehead, wrist, leg and upper arm

"You okay there dude?" Adrian asked him

"A little sore, but fine" he replied in a husky voice

Six was thinking about what Adrian had said. He really thought it through. The boy had been giving all he's got to prove something, to prove it to him. He knew the teen looked up to him in every way because he was the one who saved him from himself when he was young. He had been guiding him, teaching him and actually taking care of him. Holiday sometimes said that he was his father, being his only male role-model. Six sighed, stood up and said

"Rex...you did a good job. You can go get a...pizza or something. I won't mind" Six said in a quiet tone

"What?"

"You know, what I said, don't make me repeat it" he said in a slightly cold tone

"Sweet! Either you've been brainwashed by Holiday or I'm really allowed to have a pizza! Whatever, I'm taking that chance! WHOO!" he said as he ran out of the room, excited to get his pineapple pizza and Pepsi soda

"Just because I'm letting you eat, doesn't mean you're off the hook!" Six yelled into the hall. Adrian smirked and so did Holiday. _You did good, Six_, they both thought

**Yeah, that's as close as Six and Adrian's bonding time can get. But it did get Six to act more fatherly around ol' Rex. And once again, another short chapter ends. I needed to keep it short since I think Six isn't a talker, he's a thinker**


	6. Idol

**Back with the next chap here! Oh, and don't worry, PhantomGirl96, I'll try my best not to make Adrian a Gary-Stu. In fact, from the beginning, I never intended to**

"Rex had better saved me some of that pizza" Adrian said to himself as he exited the Training Room. Suddenly, a siren went off. The hall was filled with red lights

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" he yelled. Agents were running down the halls, past him. He was still scared out of his wits and crouched on the ground

"Dude, you alright?" Rex said, putting his hand on his shoulder. Adrian stood up and cleaned himself up

"I'm fine...so what's goin' on?" Adrian asked

"What's gonna happen is you're about to say the man in action" Rex replied proudly, pointing to himself, obviously referring to himself as "the man", "You should go with Dr. Holiday to the lab, you could get a better view there" he added as he dashed off. Adrian went the opposite direction towards the main lab. Meanwhile, Dr. Holiday was turning on the screen in the lab, revealing Rex's current biometrics. She put on her comm link to enable to her to communicate with Rex and Six. Adrian suddenly came in the lab, exhausted and accidentally stumbled down the stairs as he was going down

"Ow..." he said as he rubbed the back of his head

"You okay? Where have you been?" Holiday asked

"I'm fine and it's still my first day, don't expect me to learn all the places and directions here at one time" he replied. He went to her side and saw the contents of the screen, but still obviously confused at the images

"What are those?" he asked

"This is the state of Rex's biometrics" she replied, "Usually, these show his energy and control levels" she added. Adrian slightly understood

"You can turn on the TV at the back to see what's happening. That news reporter woman is always so stubborn at being in the scene no matter how many times Six blocks her out" she said as she tossed him the remote. He caught it, aimed it at the TV and pressed the 'on' button. The TV was on full-blast, so he panicked and turned the volume down

"Sorry about that" he said and returned to the TV

There, the other Providence Agents are fighting a giant python EVO with arms and legs. They were mostly firing at it with their guns, but they still didn't stand a chance. They got swiped away easily with its gigantic tail. Some survived, others got killed because of the painful impact. Six was in the scene, fending off the reptile with his katanas. He was avoiding any attack that the python can make towards him and managed to land a lot of shots. What baffled him the most is where Rex is. Suddenly, a giant orange fist appeared on the screen, smacking the python right on the face

"OH YEAH! Now that's what I call the ULTIMATE KNUCKLE SANDWICH!" Adrian heard from the background. The cameraman changed angle and focused on Rex, who brought out his Smack Hands. Adrian was amazed, after all, this was the first time he'd actually seen Rex use his powers. The python lifted one of its hands and tried to stomp on Rex and Six, the green ninja got away but Rex simply used his giant fists to block the attack and punched it away as well. Rex used his Boogie Pack this time and flew close to the creature's face, not anytime later, the jetpack disappeared and his Punk Busters came out, kicking the python. The python was finally down, seemingly unconscious. Rex approached it with caution and laid his hands on it. Suddenly, a bright blue glow appeared. Rex was curing the EVO. In a flash, the reptilian beast was now but a poor boy. He could've watched some more, but Six destroyed the camera with his swords

"Woah" he said, not noticing that his mouth was agape the entire time. _Rex is such a cool guy_, he thought. Holiday saw Adrian's reaction through the whole scene on TV

_Seems like Rex has just inspired someone...Adrian's got an idol_, she thought happily. The thought of Rex having have inspired a dreaming boy made her happy, and the fact that this dreaming boy was his soon-to-be teammate (if he manages to pass the test) made her jump for joy


	7. Just a bad dream

Meanwhile, at the other side, Rex was being hugged by the little boy whom he cured

"It's okay, you're alright now. Now please let go of my leg" he said. The boy let go as told

"Hehe, sorry mister. Thanks again" he said as he ran to his mom, hugging her as tight as he hugged the teen's leg. Rex walked back with Six to the Hellicarrier and went back to base

"Why couldn't we stop for tacos?" Rex complained

"I already let you have pizza today" Six retorted and ignored the boy's attempts to persuade him the entire trip back

_No matter how much he does for others, he's still as annoying as ever_, he thought

Back at base, in Rex's room, Adrian was praising Rex for his awesome work on the field

"And remember when you kicked that python. It was like 'WHAM!" and it went 'THUD!'. Man, that thing never stood a chance!" Adrian yelled and pumped his fist in the air, and landed on his back on Rex's bed

"Well, I AM awesome, aren't I?" he said, taking a bite of his pizza

"Adrian, Rex" Six called them, opening the door

"Yeah?" they responded

"Are you done eating?"

"Yeah"

"Okay. You need to rest. I don't want any of you complaining about an aching stomach when we get to the lab" he said, "Come downstairs after an hour" and he finally closed the door

"One whole hour?" Adrian asked "What do you suppose we do?"

"Wanna play 'Zombie Slayer'?" Rex asked

"Nah" Adrian said and yawned "I think I'll just take a nap"

"Okay" and Rex leaped off the bed on his chair and played his game, while Adrian dozed off on his bed

_Numerous people were screaming. All he heard was screaming_

_"Mhm. What's happening?"_

_He opened his eyes and saw the people staring at him, terrified_

_"What's wrong?" he asked them_

_The people became even more scared ran away from him. He moved toward them, but the closer he got, the faster they ran. When he looked down, he saw his older sister, terrified at what he's become_

_"What's happening? What's wrong with me?" he yelled. But all he heard was a loud noise, a growl and a roar_

"ADRIAN! WAKE UP!" Rex yelled

"Huh?" Adrian sat up. He rubbed his head and closed his eyes

"What a nightmare" he said to himself

"What's with all the screaming? I couldn't focus on my game!" he asked, half-annoyed and half-concerned

"Ah...it's nothing. Just a bad dream" he said

"Okay. We gotta get to the Training Room. It's almost time to go. Trust me, you would not like to see Six see us late" he said as he yanked the half EVO off bed. Adrian followed Rex wherever he ran down the halls and finally arrived at the lab, where his next test awaits

**Okay, this is just short, and it reveals a little of why Adrian ended up where he is in the first place. Sorry if you think I'm making things too fast...I'll try to slow down a bit if you want me to**


	8. Mental Toll Tests

Six and Holiday were lingering around the lab. They were still waiting for the two young males to come. Six was sitting quietly on one of the tables while the good doctor was setting up the next test for Adrian. The silence was deafening to the doctor. She wasn't used to this. She decided to bring up a question so she won't go mad

"What do you think is taking them so long?"

"If they're hiding again because they hacked into something else, then they're gonna get it" is all he said, not even bothering to look when he did

"Six, don't expect them to make the same mistake twice" she retorted

"I know Rex would be stupid enough to do the same thing twice, but Adrian...I don't know" he told her, still looking at the floor

"Adrian seems trustworthy enough, don't you think?" she asked. He didn't reply. She decided to change topic

"Why do you wear green suits all the time?" was all that came out. When she realized what she said, she covered her mouth. It was the first thing that came into her mind, it was random. But then again, it was one thing to ask the man. When she asked him that, he looked up and stared at her. He raised an eyebrow

"Right...never mind" she said

"I wear them because I want to" he replied. She didn't actually expect a reply

"Why?"

"I'm not answering anymore questions about my clothes"

Silence once again wrapped around them. That was the minute Adrian and Rex finally arrived at the lab.

"No, it's square, X then O" Adrian said as he went in

"But then I'd end up doing kick, jump and punch. It should be X, O then square" Rex rivalled

"But then you'd end up doing jump, punch then kick. Now that I think about it, it should be X, square then O" Adrian replied

"X, O, square!"

"X, square, O!"

"Is this really the time to talk about cheat codes?" Holiday said, snapping the boys out of their argument. They were embarrassed and proceeded to go where the two adults were

"Sorry" Rex apologized

"Yeah, what he said" Adrian pointed out. Holiday chuckled and led Adrian to a room in the right

"Okay, Adrian, be prepared for your next test. But before that, you need to study before you do that" Six relayed

"Does this involve books and reading?" Adrian asked

"No, just a crash course on everything you need to know about nanites and EVOs" he said and turned on the screen in front of him

"You are to watch this video and later on there will be a test on it. It will test your understanding of the topic and your memory capacity" Holiday said

"The video only lasts for 5 minutes or so, so don't worry" he said as he turned off the lights in the room Adrian was in and the video started

It featured what happened after the nanite event, different types of EVOs, the meaning of EVO (Exponentially Variegated Organism) and the different people around Providence. Six's voice throughout the video (since he was the one narrating) wasn't exactly clear and wasn't giving enough information so he was having a hard time understanding. It took him a lot of time for everything to be processed in his mind. When the video was over, he was given a touch screen (an iPad to be specific) and a questionnaire was listed on it

"Can we replay the video?" Adrian asked the green clad man

"That would defeat the purpose of this test" he said as he left the room, "Take as much time as you want on that quiz, there happens to be a lot of questions listed down" he added. Adrian took a look at the screen, there were 50 questions. He gulped_. This is gonna be harder than I thought_, he thought as he answered the test. 30 minutes later, he came out of the room sweating and gave Holiday the screen

"You guys might want to start putting air conditioners in there" he said as he sat down on one of the chairs in the room. Holiday put a USB port in one end of the touch screen and attached the other end to a computer

"How was the test?" Rex asked

"Hard...Especially since I could barely understand a word out of Six's mouth" he replied, rubbing his temples, trying to relax

"Okay, Adrian it's time for your next test" Holiday told him

"I only get a minute worth of rest now?" he asked

"You were given one hour to rest before because they were physical tests, it's time for your memory tests so you are only given a short time to rest. Besides, I need to calculate the test results by tomorrow" she said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of a chair. About 30 meters away from him was an eye chart

"You are going to be tested on your line of sight this time. How good your eyes are" she said. She instructed him to cover one eye and began reading the chart. He read it perfectly. Holiday jotted down on her clipboard and pulled him again in front of a TV screen. There were two pictures in front of him, both of the Pack in Abysus

"There are 20 differences in this picture. You have 5 minutes to find them all or at least as many as you can see. All you have to do is touch the screen to point out the differences" she explained. Adrian was trying to relax and looked at the screen long and hard. After at least 4 minutes, he realized something

"There are no differences here. They're exactly the same" he said

"I'm impressed. That's right" she said as she wrote something down on her clipboard. She motioned for him to move forward and he followed her to the next area

_This is gonna be a tough toll on my head_, he thought as he closed his eyes for a while

**I guess I'll continue the rest of the mental toll tests the next chapter. There are gonna be a few more tests coming his way. I haven't thought of a problem for them yet, so some of you eager beavers there are gonna have to wait, and sorry for the rush**


	9. Again

**Just because I wrote a part 1 on the previous chap, doesn't mean I'll continue specifying on it, 'cuz I know you guys will just end up being bored. And though this is already the ninth chapter, all this only happened in one day. Yes, ONLY in one day**

Adrian's head has been throbbing since Six and Holiday was dragging him around, test after test after test. From visual recall, to rapid assessment, to stress management and all that yadda yadda, Adrian was ready to give up on life as we speak. When it was finally over, he was sweating from all that remembering and such. It obviously took a toll on him (toll must be my word of the day). He was so relieved when Holiday announced it was time for dinner. He and Rex had been chowing down their dinner effortlessly, while Six and Holiday just stared at them. Bobo was apparently joining in with the boy's fast eating. The food scattered around the table, which annoyed both the agent and the doctor

"Eat slowly" Six and Holiday barked at them. Adrian and Rex knew what would happen if they didn't comply, so they slowed down a little

"By the way, where will I sleep?" Adrian asked them. They haven't really thought about his sleeping quarters so they were dumbfounded. Adrian just raised an eyebrow in confusion

"You can sleep in the room I used to sleep in" Rex suggested, chuckling

"Oh no, I've seen that room. Seems more befitting for Bobo's taste, though" he said as he looked at the chimp, who just grunted

"You can stay in Rex's room. We'll just provide beddings" Six suggested. Adrian seemed okay with it

"Sure" he said in agreement

"But, I'll go see to it that you get your own room by tomorrow" Holiday added

"Even better. Besides, I don't really like it in Rex's room, reeks of monkey breath" he said as he jokingly waved his hand in front of his face, as if he just smelled something bad

"You're really pushing me, kid" Bobo said

"It's true though" Rex rebuttled

"Where are the beddings?" Adrian asked, finishing his food

"Upstairs, I'll show you" Six said, finishing his dinner as well. They left the room, leaving Holiday, Rex and Bobo in the dining room

"The two of you seem to be getting along quite nicely, and it's only been a day" she pointed out, taking a sip of her juice

"Guess we are" Rex replied

"But, if he tries to steal you from me, I'll hate him too" he added, referring to his crush on Holiday

"Rex!"

"What?"

Meanwhile, Six helped Adrian carry his mini mattress, blanket and pillows, or more like Six carrying the mattress, Adrian carrying the blankets and pillows. Adrian was getting bored of the silence, so he tried to force the green guy into a conversation

"Hey! You take care of Rex with Dr. Holiday, right?" he asked him

"I _look _after him, Holiday only checks on his physical fitness" he pointed out

"Whatever...you guys are kinda like a family, when you look at it"

Six didn't know what to think anymore. This kid was just too nosy and observant for his own good. It was getting on his nerves, especially with his high voice, considering the boy hasn't hit puberty yet.

"You and Holiday seem like his parents. The thing is, you guys aren't married...but you might be"

Now that really struck a nerve. The thought of himself and Holiday never, EVER occurred to him. He stayed silent the rest of the way. When they reached their destination, Six punched in the code and dropped the mattress on the floor, leaving the boy alone in the room. He dragged the mattress across the floor and fixed everything that needed to be fixed. Rex came into the room and greeted Adrian

"You're gonna sleep already?" he asked

"Yeah, I'm gonna turn in early" he said as he took off his shoes and jacket

"Okay, suit yourself" he said as he jumped on his chair and turned on his game console. Adrian sat on his makeshift bed for a while and thought about the dream he had earlier that afternoon

_That sure was a scary dream, oh well, I can't stay up all night thinking about it_, he thought as he dropped his head on the pillow and wrapped the blanket around him. Even with Rex's TV going on at such a high volume, he was able to instill a deep sleep in him

_Adrian was in a deep, dark realm_

_"Where am I?" he asked aloud. His voice echoed throughout the area. Suddenly, everything became clear. He was in the city streets, people were running and screaming towards him_

_"What's going on?" he tried asking them, but no one would stop and listen to him. _

_All of a sudden, the ground was shaking. _

_He heard a howl and a snarl. And right in front of him, was a gigantic EVO. _

_He couldn't see clearly because he was still hidden in the shadows. It was too dark to see what the beast really looked like. _

_Not even hesitating, he ran for dear life, while the monster was chasing him. His surroundings started to become blurry, but the creature was still after him, and only him. He suddenly heard the EVO tell him_

_"You can't escape me" in a threateningly deep voice_

_"NO!" he yelled, he stumbled and fell, leaving him at the mercy of the beast_

"ADRIAN!" Rex and Holiday yelled. Adrian woke up instantly. He looked at his surroundings. He was in Rex's room, with Holiday, Rex and Six staring at him with tired, worried eyes (well, he couldn't really tell with Six because of his glasses)

"What happened?" he asked in a slurry voice

"You were screaming again, dude. It woke me up" Rex said. Adrian looked at the clock, it read 3:00 am

"Sorry for waking you up, guys" he apologized

"Bad dream?" Holiday asked, wrapping one arm around the boy

He nodded

"It's okay now. Come on, let's go back to sleep" Rex said as he yawned and got back to his bed. Holiday and Six left as well. Adrian rubbed his head to calm down

**The dreams Adrian's been having are not a waste. They have a reason, and you guys will find out soon. For the meantime, I'm gonna turn in myself, it's 1am here and my parents will be furious when they see me still up. PEACE OUT! By the way, sorry for the slightly failed attempt on Holix up there...hehe**


	10. Havoc in Hallmart Part 1

**Ah, a day two of Adrian's life in Providence. Even I didn't know one day would fit into so nine chapters at once. Anyways, onward! (As you may have noticed, I like putting filler chapters)**

Adrian walked through the hallways, seemingly sleep deprived. He had been thinking most of the night about his dream. It was 7am when he woke up. He found himself in a position rather uncomfortable, he fell off the mattress and he was drooling on the floor. Wait 'til Rex wakes up and steps on the puddle of saliva, he thought. He had a towel slung on his shoulder (provided by Six) and forced himself to the bathroom, barefooted. After his shower, he found himself in a disgusting situation, wearing his sweat-drenched clothes again. He wasn't one who liked wearing his clothes all over again, especially if they smelled worse than the cell he was put it in before.

As he was walking, he saw a shadow on the wall. He stopped, and walked cautiously and painstakingly slow. As the shadow got closer and he recognized its owner, he calmed down. It was just Rex. He seemed to be sleep deprived as well

"Mornin' Rex" Adrian greeted

"Hm" was all he replied with. He was still wearing his shirt and boxers. After Rex passed him, Six was behind the teen. He came to a conclusion that he disturbed his sleep. He continued on and reached Rex's room, he noticed a trail of water as he reached the door

_I guess Rex did step on the puddle_, he thought as he proceeded to go inside. He noticed Bobo was still asleep, so he decided to go back to sleep for a while as well.

**Fast forward - 9 am**

Rex and the gang were having breakfast. Six was the one who prepared it, considering Holiday wasn't much of a cook. They all had a good breakfast, and discovered Six's secret talent for cooking (but he made no comment on it). After the meal, Rex and Adrian were aimlessly walking around base until Holiday stopped them and took them both by the wrist

"Where are we going?" Rex asked, running as quick as he could to keep up

"To the mall" she replied

"Why?" Adrian asked. They finally reached the dock. Six was there, waiting for them

"Again I ask...why?" Adrian said

"We're running out of supplies" Six explained

"And I've considered buying you some clothes" Holiday added

"Oh...but how'll we get there?" The pre-teen asked again. Suddenly, he heard machinery clinking. When he turned his head, he saw Rex with his Boogie Pack

"Hop on" he said. Adrian jumped on and they flew off. Six and Holiday followed with the hover board. Adrian and Holiday were very uncomfortable, considering it was one of their first times flying out in the open, no doors, support or anything. Just their balance and their two hands supporting their weight. As they reached the city, they landed and walked the rest of the way, not wanting to attract too much attention to themselves. They went on and on until they finally reached their destination, Hallmart Mall

"Ah...I haven't been in a mall for along time" Holiday exclaimed as she went past the door. Six didn't seem to be too happy being in the place, but obviously Rex and Adrian were excited. What let down their spirits was the fact that they had to go grocery shopping first

"We'll split up. Here's your half of the grocery list. We'll meet at Cashier 10, got it?" Six said and gave the boys their half of the list. They nodded in agreement and went their separate ways. After a few minutes, they ended up in the snacks section

"Let's see...one bag of marshmallows? Who in Providence eats marshmallows?" Adrian said

"I don't know and I don't care. Why does grocery shopping have to be soooo boring?" Rex complained, slumping over to a basket of chips at the side

"Well, it is rather slow paced" Adrian replied as he reached up for the bag of marshmallows. Rex suddenly brought his head out of the basket with a sly grin on his face. Adrian knew he had an idea

"What're you thinking?" The half EVO asked suspiciously

"I've come up with a way to make shopping a little less drab" he replied, making Adrian simply raise an eyebrow in confusion

Meanwhile, on the other side of the store, Six and Holiday were quietly shopping for their own commodities. Holiday was not exactly uncomfortable with the situation, but she wasn't happy with it either. Sure, she was used to being alone with Six, but because it was business and they were secluded. Now with all the people around (there was only a small number since it was early in the morning), she was hearing they make a good 'couple'. Even those around who were giving out food samples kept asking for their last name, assuming they were married. Six was in a similar situation. He didn't like the people who were poking at them, telling them they're good for each other. Having such thoughts was unprofessional, according to him.

The adults' thoughts were interrupted when they heard a crash

"SORRY!" they heard after. They recognized that voice. They found out the culprit when they went past them. It was Adrian and Rex, going full speed ahead with their cart. Adrian was standing inside the cart, and theirs was already full. Turns out he was grabbing the stuff as they go. Six and Holiday chased after them before they got hurt, bringing their own cart with them.

The boys were going around like crazy, grabbing everything they needed

"Okay, next on the list is...5 apples!" Rex shouted at Adrian, tossing him a plastic bag

"Alright" he replied as he caught the bag. He held out the bag and put it near the counter where the apples are. He laid the plastic bag in front and caught them inside

"Got it. Is that everything?"

"That's everything" and they rushed to the Cashier. Rex had no plans of stopping, until a green flash came their way and held his hand up. He stopped immediately. The wheels screeched and Adrian was sent flying off the cart

"Ow..." he said as he rubbed his hip, where it took most of the impact

"Six...Hi!" Rex said uneasily. Six simply folded his arms in front of his chest. Holiday then came behind him, breathing heavily, not really being able to keep up with the ninja

"Rex, Adrian, what were you thinking? You could've hurt other AND yourselves!" Holiday scolded them once she caught her breath

"Sorry. We were just really bored" Adrian explained as he got up

"You should've just put up with it instead of wrecking havoc" Six said, "When we get back, I expect you to be in the Petting Zoo doing 8 laps. Beat your time. And the only weapon allowed are the Smack Hands" he added

"Oh come on! Those things are heavy and my best time is 2 minutes. How can I beat that in 10 laps?" Rex yelled

"You should've thought about that before doing this" Six said

"Come on, let's go" Holiday said

"What's Adrian's punishment?" Rex said, pushing his cart

"We don't even know if he's gonna be part of the team yet, so, that's gonna have to wait" Holiday explained. They went to the cashier and paid. Soon, they found themselves in the department store. Holiday bought most of the clothes that suited both his taste and hers. They were on their way to the cashier already

"See anything else you like?" Holiday asked Adrian. He looked around for a while, until he saw something that caught his eye

"I like that one" he said as he pointed at a certain shirt. It was a grey shirt with long, orange sleeves. In front of the shirt was text in white font, with the letters "ADC"

"Why that?" Rex asked, who was right next to him

"Those are my initials" he responded

"Really? What's your whole name?"

"That's something you guys have to find out yourselves" he said as he walked to the cashier, leaving Rex and Holiday with curious thoughts.

**Okay, now this really is a part 1, there's gonna be a part 2 of this chapter, for real. You know, this is probably my longest chap ever!**


	11. Objects of Interest Part 2

**Okay, 12th chap. Oh, and just so you know, yes, I made up the name "Hallmart Mall". And as you may have noticed, I changed the title of the chap, but this is still part 2 of the previous one**

Deciding to look around a while longer in the mall, they went separate ways and agreed to meet at a restaurant. They were each given 50 bucks (oh yeah, that makes them seem loaded) from Six in case they wanted to get anything they wanted. Rex was looking around the sports department, Adrian was at the toy store, Holiday was still in the department store, carrying the clothes she bought for Adrian and Six was aimlessly walking around, carrying the groceries

Rex seemed to be enjoying his time in the sports department. Looking at all the equipment, various sports balls, trampolines (he even tried out some of them), baseball bats, boxing gloves, cool-looking trainers, skateboards, snowboards, helmets, goggles and other sports goods. He was about to leave when something particular caught his brown eye. He looked closer and took the object of interest. He gave it a squeeze and knew just who to give it to. He bought it and left the store grinning

Adrian liked it in the toy store. There are a few things that caught his childish interest like video games, small skateboards, mini pianos, clay dough, building blocks, game boards and scooters. He liked riding one particular thing along the way, a Razor scooter. It was a black customized one with headlights in the front. It had a wide, wooden-like board and thick, red wheels, perfect to handle his height, weight and age. He looked at the price on the box and saw it was only $20 for some reason. He approached a staff member and asked why it was so cheap. He found out that no one's bought a model like that in 5 years, so he bought it instead. The cashier checked out the scooter and gave it to Adrian, leaving him happy and excited about playing with his new 'vehicle'.

Holiday was roaming around the department store, without much aim or goal. She was just looking through the beautiful dresses, silk blouses, luscious skirts, cute shirts and sexy jeans that seemed to catch her eye. She knew there wasn't much use to her if she bought any of those clothes because they would only be covered by her dull lab coat, so she only settled for plain clothes like her current ones. However, the one thing that bugged her while she was at that store, was a cute, maroon sweater she couldn't really take her eyes off. It was cottony soft to the touch, and very smooth. It had a turtle neck that would cover up what needed to be covered, and not cause her too much itchiness. Its sleeves reached at least until above her wrist, and that's how she likes it. And she thought she would look really cute in it, and she'd be perfectly comfortable. When she looked at the price tag, that's what caused her hopes to plummet. It cost $70. The money she has at the moment came from Six, so she didn't have much to buy it. She could imagine why it was so expensive. So she took one last look at it and left the department store, with the plastic bags containing boy's clothing at hand.

Six didn't know where he was going. It was good exercise to walk around, and it's supposed to be relaxing, but with all the noisy people around, relax wouldn't be the word for it. He's been passing by fancy restaurants, colorful toy stores, luxurious furniture stores and boring bookstores. He decided to sit down for a while on a bench. He was immensely bored. If he were back at Base, he'd be sparring with Callan, or forcing Rex to do laps, or kick some EVO butt or something. He was tired from walking around and was stressed because of the loud people. He hung his head for a while and thought of something to do, but nothing came. Now he knows how Rex feels when he's just stuck in someplace he doesn't want to be in. When he looked up, he saw he was back where he was before, across the department store

_Ugh, where are they?_, he thought. That question's just been answered when he saw Holiday still in the department store, staring at a particular maroon sweater with a happy look on her face. When she saw the sweater's price tag, she frowned a little. She then left, hanging her head a little went to the direction of the restaurant upstairs. Six decided to go inside and check out the sweater himself. He knew why she liked it so much, she's been going on and on about her types of clothing and favorite colors to him when they're working alone. It gets on his nerves a lot, but it finally came in handy today. He put down the plastic bags of food for a while and took a look at the article of clothing himself. When he saw the tag, it was way too expensive. _Who charges $70 for a sweater?_, he complained in his mind. Holiday would be going on and on about not getting that sweater, and he didn't want her complaining, so he did what he had to do.

**Fast forward - 11:30 am**

They all went to the restaurant agreed upon. Rex came with one small plastic bag in his hand, Adrian came riding his scooter (he just couldn't wait anymore) and Six and Holiday met up so they went together, carrying their bags. They ate an early lunch (I wouldn't call it brunch, since it's almost lunch anyways) and paid the bill. They left the mall and flew back to Base (Adrian didn't exactly have a hard time carrying back the scooter, it was collapsible anyways). They went to the kitchen to organize the stuff they bought. Adrian took another shower and changed into his new clothes: a black shirt with the words "Back Off!", a camouflage green jacket with a hood, blue denim jeans. But maintained his dark blue sneakers.

Adrian watched Rex perform his laps around the Petting Zoo for a while, before Dr. Holiday called his attention

"Yeah doc?"

"You're going to have your last test today. Come on" Holiday said as they left the lab and went to the Training Room

"So what's my last test?" he asked her

"You'll have a simulated sparring session"

"With who? Callan? Bobo?" but soon, his questions were answered as he went inside. He was so shocked when he saw a katana pointed right at him, with a man in green holding them up against the boy's chest

"Me" he said. Adrian gulped and turned to the doctor

"You've got to be kidding me"

**Yeah, as obvious as it is, Six is gonna be his enemy for the sparring session. I gave him a scooter because I wanted a scooter, but instead they gave me a bike, so I want Adrian to have my dream scooter instead (I made up the scooter's appearance)**


	12. Crazy

"You've got to be kidding me" Adrian said after finding out that his opponent for the last test is the one and only Agent Six

"Don't worry, he promised me he wouldn't kill you" Holiday said

"Yeah, sure, that's reassured" he said sarcastically

"I'm a man of my word, I won't eliminate you. But I won't promise that I cannot hurt you seriously" he explained

"Once again...I'm reassured" he said shakily and gulped. He had numerous reasons to be nervous: 1) Six could end up hurting him so bad he could be crippled for life; 2) He could be scarred for life when Six puts up too much violence on him; 3) He could be stabbed by those scary sharp swords or 4) All of the above. Those thoughts were making him nervous and uneasy. He gulped deeply and started sweating

"C-Can't I j-just have R-Rex as a s-sparring partner i-instead?" he said, shaking all the while, so his words weren't heard too much

"No, he's on his punishment" Six replied as he went down to the huge area downstairs

"I guess this is my punishment? This is ten times worse than that!" he yelled

"Just go down, Adrian. I promise nothing bad will happen to you" Holiday assured him. Adrian started to go down and finally reached the area after a short mental battle with himself

"Pick your weapon" Six said as he pointed to a rack of weapons. It had a spear with a black metal pole, black metal nunchucks, two twin tanto and...

"I choose this" he said as he took the pair of metal arnis sticks

"Good choice" Six commented

"Why that?" Holiday asked from above

"I'm more of a 'beat stuff up' than a 'cut stuff down' type of fighter" he explained. He gripped the two sticks with his hands and got ready to fight the green ninja in front of him

"Okay, this test only lasts for half an hour. Anything goes BUT none of you are allowed to kill each other" Holiday relayed. They nodded in agreement and got ready to face their opponent. Adrian getting even more nervous by the second, and Six was just staring at him, hopefully he won't be able to hurt the boy as much as he wants to hurt Biowulf

Meanwhile, Rex was going on and on with his laps, with Callan supervising him. So far, he's not doing well. He's earned a couple of scratches and bumps after being lashed on by a vine and hit by a tree by its branch. But after a couple of laps, he was doing well. But he won't be able to beat his personal record, but that didn't really matter. He punched away that EVO in the pond (Mr. Ugly as he likes calling it) and continued running. He was finally on his last lap and managed to make it out alive, but injured. Callan helped him treat his injuries. Rex was on his way to his room until he received a call on his comm link

"Hello?" he said after pressing the button

"Rex, come here to the training room, I want you to view Adrian's progress" Holiday said happily. Rex was excited. He brought out the Rex Ride and drove all the way. When he got there, he accidentally broke down the door

"Sorry about that" he said as he took off his goggles

"It's alright" she said, "Look"

Rex did as told. When he looked down, he got worried

"You pinned him against Six? Have you gone mad?" he said, obviously worried

"No, it's alright" Holiday said as she pointed down. He looked again and saw Adrian defending himself from a roundhouse kick delivered by Six. Adrian lost grip on his arnis sticks so the kick pushed through to his face. He got hit against the wall. He ran towards his weapons, but Six kicked them away and tried to punch him. Adrian ducked in time and ran for the sticks. He tumbled a little before regaining his posture and proceeded to continue. Six ran toward him with his katanas and tried slashing him with them. Adrian reacted and used the metal arnis sticks to avoid his attack. Six kept pushing through, but Adrian kicked him in the stomach, enough for him to escape for a while. He was so tired, he really needed a break, but the test wasn't gonna be over until 10 minutes from then. He got ready for Six's next attack, but nothing came. He got the idea and tried attacking himself, running toward him. He jumped and tried hitting him with the sticks, but Six countered it simply by stepping out of the way. Adrian fell to the ground, but got up fast. He was greeted with a front kick to the chest. He fell back and saw Six's katana in front of his face. He hit it away with his hand, earning him a cut. Adrian tried to deliver an uppercut the second he got up, but Six only moved backwards, avoiding the punch

"Alright boys. Time's up!" Holiday said through the mic. The two stopped and breathed heavily. Adrian fell backward and lied down for a while

"WHOO! I thought I was gonna get killed or something" Adrian huffed out

"Well, you can rest while I calculate your final results" The doctor said as she jotted something down on the clipboard she was holding

"Hey Six!" Rex yelled out. The tired green man turned around to see the teen EVO running toward his direction, carrying something...round

"What?" he said, huffing and puffing

"Before I forget, I've got a gift for you" he said as he tossed him the round object. It was a green hand ball with a smiley face on it. He gave it a squeeze and knew what it was

"A stress ball?" he asked, raising an eyebrow

"Yeah! I mean, I figured I'd get you one because you're mad and stressed most of the time, so when I saw that, I thought I'd get it for you!" he cheerfully replied, "Do you like it?"

"It's...nice" he said as he gave it another squeeze

"You're welcome" Rex said as he ran off with Adrian while they wait for the results. Holiday came behind him and patted him on the back

"It's the thought that counts, Six" she explained. He took a look at the ball and its smiling face. It reminded him a little of Rex after a good day's work. He just walked away from Holiday's line of sight, but Holiday was smirking all the way, as if she could read his mind

**Sorry about the fight scene, I'm not good with those. I'll try better next time. Any suggestions for chapters are greatly honored...And this chapter was made out of reluctance, so it's not my best. Once again, I apologize**


	13. The results are in

**The results are in! (for Adrian's test anyways). By the way, thanks Tessdragon for those reviews! They were great pick-me-ups after the day I've had**

After Rex helped Adrian treat his cut from the spar, they went around the Petting Zoo. Bobo was with them and they did a random lap on the Rex Ride. Dr. Holiday did say the results weren't going to be out until half an hour from then

"Hey, Adrian!" Rex yelled

"Yeah?"

"Up for a road trip to freedom?"

"Huh?"

Then Rex suddenly stopped in front of a huge metal door covered in vines. Adrian knew what he was implying

"Don't you think we'd get in trouble?" he asked

"Didn't we get into enough trouble already? I'm pretty sure Six is running out of punishments for me" he said as he revved up the engine and broke out. Adrian was hanging on for dear life 'coz he was going too fast. Suddenly, Rex transformed into the Boogie Pack and they got to the city faster

"WHOOO!" Rex hollered out as he soared through the desert sky. In about 10 minutes, they got to the city. Adrian and Rex had been walking around the city for a while. They went to the arcade, skate park (Adrian brought his scooter) and the basketball court. They were playing a few rounds until a certain blonde boy showed

"Rex" he greeted

"'Sup Noah?" he greeted back

Adrian just seemed out of place at the moment

"Who's the kid?" Noah asked

"That's Adrian. He's 12. A friend of mine" Rex put it briefly, "And half EVO" he whispered into his ear

"Nice"

"Hello? I still exist right?" Adrian said, waving a hand in front of him

"Sorry. Adrian - Noah, Noah - Adrian" he said, introducing them to each other. Adrian simply beamed a smile. Noah waved his hand a little

"This is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship" Bobo commented, and they all laughed

"Laugh-a-palooza is over" a gruff voice said. They turned around to see the one and only guy in green from Providence with an army of agents

"The results are in. It's time to go" he said as he pulled Rex and Adrian by the arm

"See ya later, Noah" they both bid goodbye. They all boarded the jump jet set outside the city and flew back to HQ

"So...am I part of the team or what?" Adrian asked. He entered the lab, following Rex and Six. Holiday was inside, who seemed to be calculating the last of the results

"See for yourself" the doctor said as she handed him the clipboard

The results are as follows:

Reflexes - 7/10

Instincts - 5/10

Memory - 10/10

Observation - 9/10

Technological Intelligence - 10/10

Rapid Assessment - 8/10

Visual Recall - 9/10

Stress Management - 5/10

Skill Application - 7/10

Strategy - 8/10

**Total: 78/100**

Skill Statistics:

Strength - 7/10

Speed - 9/10

Agility - 8/10

Endurance - 10/10

Defense - 9/10

**Total: 43/50**

**Overall Rank:**** Excellent**

When Adrian saw the results, he didn't really know what to think. He didn't understand what it meant. He's not exactly sure if he passed or not. They noticed his confused face, so Holiday explained

"Those are actually high scores for a regular boy your age. Any boy who would've taken that test would only get 60 in the tests, and 38 in the skill statistics"

"So...does this mean...?"

"Welcome to the team, Adrian"

**~ Later that night ~**

Adrian and Rex had finally fallen asleep after a party they had celebrating Adrian's welcoming. Dr. Holiday and Six were working late that night too, they still haven't given their report on the EVO Rex took down the other day. Six finished early and left without a word, leaving the lab coat clad doctor alone in the room. When she was done with her work, she went straight to her room, hoping for a good night's rest. As she walked down the hall where her room is, she noticed something in front of the door. It was a bag...a shopping bag. She ran toward that direction, not wanting to wait and walk. She took a look inside and there was the one thing she's been staring at the whole day at the mall...the soft, maroon sweater

_Oh my gosh! Who? What? How?_, she thought in a panicky pace. She brought out the article of clothing and held it near her face. It was so soft! She had to thank the guy who gave her this. She was going to find out no matter what. That was until she found another thing in the bag, a card

_Hope you like it. ~ Rex_

_Oh...he can be so naive sometimes_, she thought. Despite the fact that the card was signed from the teen, she recognized the penmanship all too well

"I don't care if you hate me for the rest of my life, I'm going to hug you one day Six...one day" she told herself. She giggled a little and brought in the soft sweater, and the fail greeting card

**So Adrian made it to the team. Well, of course you can't expect a boy without much experience to pass the Providence test with perfect scores, so I gave him a down low expectation, but managed to pass with slightly average scores. Another short chapter comes to an end, but marks the beginning of a beautiful life. And yeah, I forgot about the sweater, so this is an edited version**


	14. Take that back!

**Okay, in this chap, yeah, Adrian's already part of the team. When I said a beautiful life awaited him, I'm working on that, for now, let's work on his past and his...well, you'll find out soon**

It's been a week since Adrian's acceptance into the Team. He and Rex have been getting along well too. Even though Adrian hasn't done too much, being the rookie that he is, he gives the teen his full support when he fights EVOs while he trains back at HQ. Six has been supervising his training sessions a little, so he knows the pain Rex feels when he trains. Today was a...normal day in Providence. Normal, as in, no EVO attacks, no word from the Pack, no bad news of any sort, no...anything. It was rather strange, but the boys took advantage of it in every way. They took an agent's marshmallow stash from the break room's pantry, pranked Bobo, broke out again and hung out with Noah. By sunset, they were staying at the side of Burger King, where a soda vending machine is. If Rex remembered, that was the place where he first met Noah. That was also the day a gang took advantage of him by giving them freebies

"Well, well, well. Looks like we meet again, freak" they heard a voice say. When they turned around they saw the skater gang again. The one who spoke up was a boy in shades, clad in a red shirt, old black jeans and white sneakers

"These guys again?" Rex mumbled

"What do you want?" Noah demanded

"We just want you to leave. This is our turf" a fat boy in blue replied

"It's a free country, we can stay here if we want to" Rex responded in kind. Adrian didn't understand what was happening

"Who's he?" the boy in the red shirt asked, pointing at Adrian

"He's not your concern" Rex said

"Hehe, looks like EVO freak's running a babysitting service!" the guy snorted

"You take that back!" Adrian yelled at him

"Adrian! Stay out of this!" Noah pleaded

"No! He got himself into this" the red shirted teen told him

"Leave him alone! He's just a kid!" Rex defended Adrian

"A kid, eh?" he repeated, "Well then," he brought up his hand and balled it into a fist, "Let's see if you are a kid. Only a wimpy kid would take this punch and cry to his mommy!" and he tried to drive his fist toward Adrian. Adrian stopped it in time and with his hand, blocking the attack

"I guess I'm not that kind of kid" the 12-year-old said as he grabbed his wrist and put his other hand against the teen's upper arm

"Now, are you going to take that back or what?" he said in a deep, angry voice

"What would you do if I don't?" the shades-wearing 15-year-old taunted. Adrian moved his hand (the one on the guy's upper arm) and pushed it to the right, while his other hand (the one holding his wrist) went the other direction. This was causing the teen slight pain

"NOW?"

Adrian received no reply, which angered him even more, and pushed further. The older boy was now whimpering, and the pain was becoming too great. He was in so much pain, he couldn't think straight and he forgot about his free left arm

"Ah! Alright! I'm sorry!" he yelled, begging for mercy. Adrian let go and the teen gripped his hurt arm

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

The other boys ran away in fear. That kid was too much! Adrian plastered a sadistic grin on his face

"Woah! How'd you do that?" Rex said in shock. Adrian shook his head a little, seemingly confused

"Do what?" he asked innocently

"That! That thing you did with the guy's arm!" Noah replied, who was also in shock

"I...I don't know what you're talking about" Adrian said, "Whatever I did, I think it has something to do with this headache I'm having. Ugh..." he gripped his head and walked away

What Rex and Noah didn't know was he was barely acting under his own influence. He wasn't the one speaking or acting, it was...someone else in him. They couldn't figure out what the heck happened, so they just left with him, unaware of exactly what's happening to Adrian

**Yeah...I just wrote this during Music class since our teacher was absent, I decided to make this an attachment for the next chapter...so here it is.**


	15. Star Gazing

**Yeah, I have a feeling this is gonna be my favorite chapter, who knows, it might be yours too!**

Adrian had just finished his training with Six and Rex. He can't believe his training lasted from the moment he got to the Training Room until the second he decided to leave already. He wanted to head straight for his room (which Holiday recently fixed up), watch TV for a few minutes and drift off to Dreamland. When he got to his room, he looked at his computer. He saw the date, and decided to go do something else

Meanwhile, Rex has been sleeping soundly in his own room. That is, until he heard a disturbance from the roof. He sat up and opened his eyes a little

_Who would be stupid enough to break into Providence? And moreover, who would go here in the middle of the desert at 12mn?_, he thought, getting annoyed. He decided to investigate and got out of bed. He opened his door with a swoosh and peeked through the halls, making sure no one heard him. He then went outside the landing bay, where the jets land and stuff. He decided to use his Smack Hands and climbed up the building until he reached the roof. Once he got up, he saw a dark figure up ahead. It was too dark to see and his eyes were still misty from his interrupted sleep. He took a step closer, slowly but surely. He saw 'it' move and stopped for a while. When it didn't move anymore, he inched closer and closer

"Hey Rex" he heard. He was so shocked, he brought out his Boogie Pack and flew up

"It's just me dude" he heard again. This time, he knew that voice. He deactivated his jetpack and walked casually toward the shadowy figure

"Adrian. You scared me" Rex told him

"Sorry. But next time, you really shouldn't sneak around like that" Adrian responded

"Shouldn't I be telling you that? What're you doing here anyways?"

"Watching the stars" and he lied down on the roof, with hands behind his head, making himself comfortable

"Why?" he asked, lying down next to him

"Well, it's been a tradition of mine"

Rex blinked

"Every first night of the month, my sister and I come out to the rooftop and watch the stars. Whether the skies are clear or not. It's relaxing sometimes"

"Can I watch with you?"

"Sure"

There were a few moments of silence for a while, before Rex broke it

"You used to watch the stars with your sister?"

"Yeah"

"...How old is your sister?"

"'Round your age"

"...Is she cute?"

"When you find out about my sister, you're not gonna hit on her, are ya?" he asked in a tone of annoyance

"...Maybe"

"Dude!" he yelled, sitting up

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding"

Adrian relaxed and went back to watching the stars. Or just star. The one star he's been staring at the whole time was Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the sky. He used to make his wishes on that same star since he was a kid

**Flashback**

_7-year-old Adrian and 10-year-old Sarah (his sister) were lying on the rooftop of their house. It was that time again, they one they always look forward to. Sarah had been teaching Adrian about the stars, constellations and other heavenly bodies, considering she's the only one going to school, he's just being home-schooled by her. Adrian pointed at a very bright star in the sky, and asked what's the name of it_

_"That's Sirius. It's actually very big and it's bigger and brighter than the sun" she told him_

_"Really? 'Coz the sun seems way bigger than any star like that" he explained childishly_

_Sarah closed her eyes and started mumbling words quietly, leaving little Adrian confused_

_"Whatcha doin', sis?"_

_"I'm making a wish"_

_"Why? Don't they say you're supposed to make a wish on the FIRST star you see tonight?"_

_"Well, I think the brightest star beats any first star in the sky. It's not about being first, it's about doing your best, until you shine as bright as a star"_

_"Oh...can I make a wish too?"_

_"Of course"_

_And they wished together_

_"Sarah! Adrian! You have to go to bed already!" their grandmother told them_

_"Okay, grandma!" and they went down the roof to their room. They share a room. Sarah had her side of the room, and Adrian had his. They got ready for bed_

_"Hey, sis!" Adrian called her_

_"Yeah, li'l bro?"_

_"What did you wish for?"_

_"I can't tell you that! Or else my wish won't come true!"_

_"Oh come on, pretty please! I'll tell you my wish!"_

_"Then your wish won't come true"_

_Adrian thought about it for a while_

_"Oh, right. Okay, never mind" and they both drifted off to sleep_

**End of Flashback**

Adrian hadn't realized he had his eyes closed the whole time...smiling

"You asleep, dude?" Rex whispered

"Naw, I'm awake" he said, opening his eyes

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing. Just made a wish"

"Aren't you a little too old to be making wishes on a star or something?"

"Well, you're never too old to believe, right? Why don't you make a wish?"

"Okay, if you say so"

And they both made their wishes

"I think we should get down now, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow" Rex said, standing up

"Right" Adrian responded, standing up as well. He jumped onto Rex's back and he brought out his Boogie Pack, flew up and landed on the landing bay

"So, what'd you wish for?" Rex asked

"I can't tell you that"

"Why not? Is it personal?"

"It's just...if I tell you, my wish won't come true"

"Oh"

After a few minutes, they ended up on the 5th floor, where their rooms were

"Good night, dude" Rex said, before closing his door

"G'night" he greeted back, closing the door as well

Before going to sleep, he went to his computer and took a USB from the table next to it. He always brought around his USB, which is no surprise how he brought it to Providence. He plugged it in and searched through some old files. He went through the documents, videos and pictures. He was laughing at most of them because they were of him in his past birthdays and school performances. He stopped at one particular picture and stared at it for a while. It was a picture of a man, a woman, a girl and a boy. The man looked just like him, minus the white streaks on his hair and his hair does seem slightly shorter. He had dark brown eyes. The woman had long black hair, reaching until her waist, she had fair skin and rosy pink lips. She had exotic green eyes. The girl had long black hair as well, she had dark brown eyes too, like the man. And the boy...they boy was him

He touched the screen lightly as a tear trickled down his cheek. He started sobbing lightly. He breathed in deeply and tried to regain composure of himself

"I miss them so much" he mumbled to himself. His family...the one thing he'll never see again

**There, there's a bit of Adrian's history. His story of how he ended up in Providence is another thing though...and that's coming on later**


	16. Peace and Quiet

_Adrian was back in the dark realm again_

_He woke up to the sound of laughter_

_When he stood up, he saw his family all together_

_"Come on, Adrian! Come with us!" His father said happily, telling him to come over_

_"Yeah, Adrian!" His sister yelled out_

_"Have fun with us!" His mother said this time_

_He happily complied and ran towards them. He was almost within arm's reach of them, until a giant paw stepped in his way_

_He fell on the ground, and rubbed his head. He looked up and saw the same EVO from his dreams again. But this time, much more clearly. It had two heads, three tails, each with white stripes, and glowing red eyes. A snarl escaped its razor sharp fangs. It was a black EVO wolf, and it was aiming for his family_

_His family was scared, hugging each other tight, closing their eyes_

_"NO!" he cried and ran towards them, but before he can do anything, the monster slashed them away and they disappeared into thin air_

_"NO!"_

_"You're next!" The EVO said menacingly. Adrian ran away again, not wanting to end up a victim like his family_

_"It's over!" he heard again. But this time, the voice sounded so familiar, but he still couldn't identify it because its voice was too rough_

Adrian woke up with a start. His heart was beating so fast, he gripped his chest. He rubbed his temples with his fingers and closed his eyes for a few seconds

"Ugh...I hate these nightmares! They're getting worse every time!" he whispered loudly

Sweat was dripping down his forehead. He was getting more nervous by the second. First, he saw people running away from him, as if they were scared. Then, he saw the monster itself, but it was rather shadowy. This time, he saw the terrifying beast more clearly, and it killed his family! These dreams were getting out of hand, it was stressing him out a lot. He's still not used to the fact he's in Providence now.

When he woke up from a bad dream, his grandmother or mom would comfort him. Well, Dr. Holiday was the next best thing. When he had problems, he'd tell Sarah about them, but Rex was fine too. When he needed support, he has Six for that when Rex was on missions. Come to think of it, they are kinda like his family...maybe-

"Rise and shine, sleeping-stein!" Rex's voice echoed through his room

"I'm up. I'm up" Adrian replied drowsily. He yawned lightly and got off the bed

"Come on, dude! Time for the most important meal of the day!"

"Alright" and he walked down the halls with Rex

Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen, Holiday and Six were waiting. The agent noticed something...different about the doctor. She wasn't wearing her regular orange top, instead, she had on the maroon sweater he got her. Despite the difference, he made no comment because she'd get suspicious

What Six didn't know was, she was waiting for him to make a comment, because she already knew. She was getting tired of waiting for the boys and just sat down on a chair, drumming her fingers against the table. Six didn't particularly like annoying sounds in the morning

"Holiday" he said sternly

"Yes?" she said, still drumming her fingers

"Stop doing that"

"Doing what?"

"That. With your fingers"

"Oh, sorry" and she stopped. A few silent moments went by and Holiday broke it again, this time with a question

"Do you notice anything different about me?"

Now that she mentioned it, he might as well say it, "You have a new sweater"

"What do you think of it?" she asked, flirting slightly

"It looks...nice on you" he commented. He sounded like he just hurt himself. Holiday stood up and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. She didn't mind the fact that he was shaking slightly

As for Six, he felt uncomfortable and out of place, but it feels SO right at the same time. He didn't push away or anything, if she wanted to let go now, he'd let her. He's not exactly sure why he hugged her though, he was too...preoccupied to think clearly and logically

"Thank you" she mouthed to herself. She knew that if she let him find out, he'd try to inch away from her and start all over again, so she thanked him ever so silently. Once she let go, she shot him a beaming smile

"What was that about?" he asked out of confusion, raising an eyebrow

"Nothing...I just wanted a hug is all"

"You could've just waited for Rex or Adrian"

"Well, maybe I didn't wanna wait" she replied childishly, pouting a little. It made her look so adorable in Six's eyes, but of course, he didn't show her that fact. Right at that moment, the two boys came in

"Mornin' guys! Wow, doc! Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?" Rex commented, referring to the doctor's 'new look'

"Yeah! Looks good on you!" Adrian commented as well

"Thank you, boys!" she expressed with gratitude, hugging them both

"We should mornings like this more often" he whispered to Adrian, who only chuckled in slight agreement.

After breakfast, Adrian immediately sneaked into his room, avoiding Six and Rex to get some peace and quiet. He took his towel and went straight for the bathroom. Then he changed into his favorite gray shirt with orange sleeves with the white font with the letters 'ADC', dark gray denim pants, a dark red jacket and still wore his regular sneakers. Right after, he returned to his room and turned on his computer, a picture appeared on his screen. It was an epic picture of a wolf on a cliff, howling at the moon. He didn't know why he made that his wallpaper, it just looked really mysterious and cool. He liked messing around with the design of his computer. His window color was dark blue and his username was "Mr. Inferno". He was browsing through the internet for a while, trying to enjoy what silence he has left


	17. His Fault

Adrian had been in Providence for a full month now. He hasn't been on any missions, big or small, and he's been confined in Providence ever since, they'd only bring him out on weekends because Holiday says it's not good for a boy like him and Rex to stay in one place all the time. He's also been under the doctor's tutelage when it came to school, because he still needs his education after all. He sneaks out with Rex a lot, though. But today, he separated from Rex and got lost in the big city. He's been wandering around for 2 hours and eventually found himself walking through his hometown, the same place where he remembered...everything

**Flashback**

_There are so many people running and screaming. Another EVO was on a rampage, but it was much more destructive than any other EVO that Providence had tried to control. It was a gigantic wolf with two heads and three tails. Suddenly, Rex appeared in the scene (without Six's authorization, of course)_

_"WHOO!" he yelled as he got off the Hellicarrier. He brought out his Punk Busters and landed on the ground, it trembled due to the tremendous impact. He tried kicking it but missed by a long shot. The beast turned around and smacked him with one of his tails, sending him flying off and leaving his machine destroyed. He got up again, but the EVO howled loudly, deafening him and the people around him. Before he knew it, Six was there on his hover board, who picked Rex up_

_"Hey! Why are you sending me back? I need to cure that guy!" he yelled, struggling to get out of Six's grip_

_"You're on an overload again. You have to go back" the green guy explained. Rex eventually succeeded in getting loose and used his jetpack to fly towards the monster. He approached fast and suddenly transformed his hands into those metal boxing gloves. He punched the creature right on the snout and it went backward, but didn't go down. It only made him angrier. The EVO charged toward him, but Rex flew up once more and laid his hands on it, trying to cure him_

_However, in the middle of the process, Rex wasn't able to handle too many nanites, so he stopped, but seeing as the "thing" was finally cured, he stopped. Six was behind him and brought him immediately out of the scene. So poor Adrian was left to be half EVO_

**End of Flashback**

"It's his fault I am where I am now" he whispered to himself. Then, he heard footsteps coming toward him, he looked behind him and saw who it was. Rex. Suddenly, all those bitter memories faded away. He didn't want to think of such things if he was gonna end up being part of his team. He didn't want conflict

"Adrian, I've been looking everywhere for you. I couldn't fly around anymore because my biometrics went down" Rex huffed and puffed

"It's alright, I'm fine...You're bios up already?" he asked

Rex closed his eyes for a while and opened them back up, confirming his bios are back up

"Okay, then let's go!" he said as he jumped on the teen's back. They flew off back "home", where a lecture from Six awaits them

**Okay, so short again. Sorry, I'm starting to lose the will to write. And thanks for helping me out Tessdragon, it really helped me. Now, I have a few more thing up my sleeve**


	18. What's wrong?

**This is officially my longest story ever. And it's gonna get even longer actually, especially since I love putting filler chapters**

_Adrian was in his old room, back in his old house. He was sleeping soundly until he heard someone pound on the door_

_"OPEN UP!" a man's voice angrily said. Adrian was too scared and sleepy to move, so he kept still and hid under his blanket. The man kept pounding on the door_

_"THAT"S IT!" and he broke down the door. Adrian looked at the man's shadow carefully. He peeked out a little and saw his father, his face filled with rage and anger_

_"D-D-Dad.." he whispered. The man's head immediately snapped his way, and looked at him as if he were the biggest mistake ever made_

_"YOU!" he yelled as he charged towards him. Adrian jumped off the bed and ran under him, heading for the door. He made it out and went downstairs. His dad went after him in a fit of rage, but he didn't know why. He made a mad dash for the door, but he immediately blocked it_

_"Going somewhere?" he asked intimidatingly. Adrian shivered in his place, and awaited the punishment, not even knowing why he deserved it_

Adrian's dreams are out of hand again. First, an EVO, now his family. Ugh, he needed to forget about that "day". He rubbed his head hardly and rested his head on his pillow again. He stared at the ceiling and tilted his head to the side, staring at his TV.

"Why?" he mumbled, "Why me?". He held back tears trying to come out of his eyes

"Why did it have to happen to me?" he said louder

"WHY?"

Rex was on his way to Adrian's room, but when he heard him scream, he ran there immediately. He was in such a rush, he forgot his passcode to his room, so he broke down the door with his metal fists

"Adrian! What's wrong?" he asked worriedly

"WHY?" he yelled out again, ignoring Rex completely. Rex came close to him and patted him on the back as the 12-year-old cried his heart out

"What's the matter?" Rex asked once more

"What's happening to you, dude?"

"Bad dream"

"Again?"

Adrian nodded, "I miss my family so much. But I don't even know if they're still alive...or what's left of them who are still alive"

"I don't understand. If you miss your family, why are you here?"

He was about to answer, but Holiday called Rex on his comm link

"What is it, doc?" he asked after pressing the button by his ear

_"There's another EVO appearance in downtown New York" _Holiday replied

"Alright" and he turned the ear piece off

"What's happening?" Adrian asked

"Another ugly EVO guy's appeared. You can watch the TV again if you wanna see the action" he boasted and left the room in a hurry. Meanwhile, Adrian turned on the TV and waited for his friend to appear. While waiting, he pondered about his dream. Truth be told, he had a very good childhood. It was that stupid nanite event that changed everything. He cursed under his breath while closing his eyes. He imagined his family, his loving mom, his supportive dad and his caring sister. It ticked him off the fact that he ended up here because-

"Another monster has appeared, right here in the middle of the Big Apple itself" he heard a woman say. He tilted his head and saw the news was on, and he knew Rex was coming on anytime soon. He sat up and made himself comfortable

There, Rex was going head-to-head with the EVO. It was actually a really ugly man with four overgrown arms, two of which are holding him up. He landed a punch towards Rex, but he countered with his own 'Fists of Fury'. He landed a punch of his own on the guy's own body, and it sent him back. He brought out his Whip Arm and wrapped the whip around the EVO and electrocuted him, knocking him unconscious. Rex went near it and did his 'thing' again. After the blue light disappeared, it revealed a fat man in his late 50's. Rex was then called back to Base

Adrian was still waiting, not wanting to come out of his room, besides, Six gave him a day off for the meantime anyways. He was just lying down on his bed, still thinking about the dream. Rex came back to his room

"Wuddup? Did you see me kicking EVO butt on TV?" he asked

"Yeah, you did a great job" he said nonchalantly, still staring into an empty space

"So, you still haven't answered my question yet, you know?"

"Oh...what was your question again?"

"Why are you here if you miss your family"

"Well...do you remember an EVO you fought a month ago? Before you met me?"

"An EVO?...I think it was like...a dog or something?"

"A wolf"

"Oh...wait, how'd you know?"

"I was that EVO"

Rex was extremely shocked. He couldn't believe that extremely destructive EVO was actually this kind and gentle (to a certain extent) boy.

"T-That was you?"

"Yeah. You didn't look at my face so you didn't know who I was"

"But, shouldn't you have been back with your family now?"

"Yeah, but-"

**I'll save the story for the next chapter, so you oughtta wait for it**


	19. My Story

**Flashback**

_Adrian has finally been turned back to normal. He ran immediately to his sister. She welcomed him with open arms and hugged him tight. He cried into her chest, he thought he wouldn't be able to live. That night, he had a good night's sleep, until he heard a CRASH!_

_"Let me at the boy!" he heard next. He knew it was his dad. He got up from bed and pressed his ear on the door, listening closer_

_"No, Dad! You have to control yourself!" he heard again, but this time it was Sarah speaking_

_"Let me at him! I'm going to kill the boy!"_

_He got shocked when he heard his father wanted to get rid of him. Why would he kill his only son? He was scared, but he maintained frozen in his place_

_"Dad! He didn't mean to kill mom! It was the nanites acting up, not him!" Sarah yelled, this time crying_

_"I killed mom!" he yelled. Sarah got distracted by the scream, letting go of the man, and gave him a chance to terminate the boy. Adrian knew what was coming, so he immediately ran out the window in his room and jumped to the tree near it. He climbed down and ran for dear life. He saw his dad after him in a mad dash. His eyes were red from anger and sadness. Such would eventually lead him to killing the only other male in the family. He was scared out of his wits and ran to a dark alley. His father followed him inside and cautiously walked_

_"Adrian. Where are you? I'm not gonna hurt you!" he said in a loud voice. Adrian was shaking from fear, he needed to escape now! He moved slowly out of the crate he was hiding next to, seeing his dad finally leave. But he accidentally knocked over a trash can, catching the man's attention. Adrian ran through the alley again, to the other side of town. He managed to run out of breath once his father stopped chasing him 15 minutes earlier. He huffed and puffed until another figure tried to approach him. It was getting closer and closer. He thought it was his dad, so he got ready to defend himself. He closed his eyes and waited for his presence. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he immediately grabbed it and twisted it_

_"OW! OW! OW!" the victim shrieked. He knew that voice. He immediately let go_

_"Oh my gosh, Sarah! I'm sorry! Did I hurt you that bad?" he asked, rubbing her wrist which was still in his grasp_

_"No, I'm fine" she replied, taking back her wrist, "Anyways, you're not safe here. You have to get out of here, and I know where you should go" she said as she grabbed him and made their way to the desert (yeah, they live near the desert)_

_"Where are we going?" he asked_

_"Providence" was all she said. He didn't know what Providence is, he didn't even know the boy who cured him was part of the organization. He just followed his sister until they saw a white building up ahead. Sarah stood on the platform where the door is and knocked on the door. After a couple of seconds, someone answered it. It was Callan_

_"What're you kids doing here?" he asked the two kids_

_"You need to take my brother" Sarah said briefly_

_"I can't do that"_

_"Why not?"_

_"We are a top government agency created to eliminate or cure EVOs; we're not a daycare center, kid"_

_"Come on! I can't send him back home 'cuz my dad would kill him! He's half EVO, just please give him a home!"_

_"Why?"_

_Adrian didn't want to hear why, but he didn't have to_

_"That's not important! Just take him, please!"_

_Callan thought about it. If this girl was telling the truth and her brother was going to get killed by their own parent, then he would have to take him in. But he would have to keep him under wraps for a while_

_"Fine, but you can't tell your dad unless you really want this boy to get killed" he explained_

_"Oh, thank you!" she cried out with joy, "But, can I spend a few moments with him?"_

_"Sure" he said with a nod and went inside for a while_

_"Don't leave me here, Sarah. Please..." The young boy pleaded. He didn't want to be separated from his family, especially not his sister. They've been so close throughout the years_

_"I know, bro. I don't want to leave you here either. But I have to, dad's gonna have us both dead if he finds us out" she explained. She wiped a tear from his face. Even she started crying. Adrian hugged his sis for the last time_

_"I'm going to miss you so much!" he cried heavily_

_"Me too"_

_Sarah jumped off the platform and walked the other way, not even sure where to go since she can't go home anymore. Adrian took one last glance before Callan led him inside, effectively meaning this would be the last time he'd see her_

_When Knight found out about this, he became interested in the boy, mostly because he's half EVO and suggested he be part of Six's team, and that would be the day his life changed_

**End of Flashback**

"That's...harsh" Rex commented, "What happened to your dad?"

"Callan said he was brought into custody for trying to commit genocide" he replied quietly

"Speaking of Callan, didn't he say you were fending off an EVO in your town when that happened?"

"He lied"

"Oh, right...what about your sister? Have you heard from her?"

"Not at all. I'm assuming she'd be off by now since no one else is there to take care of her, we only had each other that night" and he sobbed again, not afraid of showing weakness. Rex had no idea the boy's been through a lot. He lost his whole family and his freedom all in one day. The only reason why he chose to take the tests was because he had nowhere else to turn to. Rex put one arm around the boy, comforting him a little. Holiday came right in as he was crying

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried immediately. Rex looked at Adrian for something to tell him that it was okay to tell her. He nodded and so Rex told the woman

"Oh...that's...tragic" she said, sitting on the other side of Adrian and got close to him

"I know, right?" Rex replied. Rex let go of the sobbing boy so Holiday could comfort him instead

"By the way, Rex. You have to go train with Six" she told him

"What about...?" he discontinued and just pointed at Adrian

"I'll take it from here" she whispered. Rex exited the room while the 12-year-old was still crying like there's no tomorrow. Holiday wrapped her arms around him lightly and moved her hand up and down his back, trying to soothe him and calm him down

"It hurts so much...in here" he exclaimed, pointing to his chest in the area where his heart is. Holiday knows what it's like. When she found out her sister was incurable, her heart sank deeper than the Titanic did. Losing someone you care about is very hard. She was able to accept that fact because she was mature enough to handle it, but for all that to happen to such a young boy...she couldn't even think why fate has done such a thing. Time passed and now he was only whimpering. Holiday had been in the room the whole time, trying to relax him. Adrian got up from the bed and turned on his computer and plugged his USB in. He browsed through a couple of photos and stopped at one

"That's what I used to look like" he pointed out. Holiday took a step closer and looked carefully at the differences. While he currently had extremely pale skin, bright red eyes, messy and slightly long hair with white streaks, and is extremely tall for his age, he looks very much different from his picture. He had deep brown eyes, short black hair slicked back, fair skin and is short (he was still 12 in that picture)

"I look like this because I'm half monster" he said

"Now, don't you go calling yourself a monster! Look at Rex, he's not a monster, is he?"

"Of course he isn't, he's a hero. He cures and helps people. All I did when I was full EVO was kill and injure thousands of those people, including my own mom"

"It wasn't your fault that happened" she said, trying to comfort him again. She noticed it was almost time to eat already

"Come on, Adrian. We need to go eat lunch now" she said

"Alright" he said in a weak voice. He wiped off the dry tears and stood up, with Holiday following him outside

**Sorry for the slight rush in this**


	20. The Pain in My Heart

Adrian fell asleep in his room the whole day after eating, he just wanted to forget everything he told them. Forget everything that happened that "day". Forget that he got separated from the only person he truly bothered to care about

Six heard everything from Rex and Holiday, but even after that, he still maintained that stoic stature of his, something Rex likes calling the 'Six Scowl'. Six wasn't the type of guy to care, but after experience with Rex, he knows the boy needs another talking to, tell assure him that it's gonna be alright. That they'll help him find his sister. He was strolling around and finally arrived at Adrian's room. The boy was very quiet, but something wasn't, and Six was pretty sure it was a song being played

_Here I am alone in this empty room,_  
_And let my mind just fly you to the end._  
_Thoughts of you still linger in my memory_  
_Wondering why my life is not that fair_

Six knew the computer was on, and Adrian was listening to it. He actually woke up minutes ago, turned on his computer and started listening to songs, sad songs to be specific. He jumped on his bed after putting the computer's volume on full blast because the audio was too soft. The green ninja ended up listening as well

_I could still recall, those memories of you,_  
_The joy and all your laughter,_  
_The love that we've been through._  
_Oh I can't believe, you're gone..._

_I don't want to remember,  
The things we used to do,  
All the things that remind me of you.  
I don't want to hear those songs,  
Those songs we used to sing,  
'Cause I don't wanna feel the pain in my heart_

Six could sense the slight sorrow the song brought to the 12-year-old. After hearing what Rex and Holiday said, he reflected on the boy's feelings. He was lonely without his family around. It was just work, work, train, sneak out, get lectured, work, work. When Rex was out on missions and Holiday was busy with her own work, he was the only one that Adrian had left at the moment. He just made him suffer most of the time, according to Adrian himself. A boy and a 2 km run, no stops, was very hard.

_Talkin' to my self, for reasons I can't find._  
_Findin' out why everything went wrong._  
_Tears fallin' down on my cheeks,_  
_That I've been tryin' to hold._  
_I just dunno if I could still go on_

After that, Six began reflecting on his own life. How did it go for him? Let's review, shall we? He's had a fairly standard childhood. He used to be happy-go-lucky, his eyes and wide grin just screamed optimism. He was the friendliest kid in the neighborhood. Such personality couldn't exactly follow him on the way to growing up. It was only one day, the day he lost everything like Adrian did.

One day, 15-year-old Samuel was having the usual day. Go to school, study, deal with bullies and fangirls and go home to eat dinner and have fun with the family.

_I wanted you to stay,_  
_The tears began to show,_  
_You said you care for me,_  
_But then you have to go_  
_And now I know, you're gone._

It started out normal, but when he got home...that's when things went wrong. His parents were fighting over financial and family problems again. He pretty much got used to them because they never got to anything really serious, but that night was different. He was studying when all of a sudden he heard his mom scream in fright

"No! Please don't, Richard! Think of Samuel! What will happen to him?" she pleaded, begging for mercy. Samuel peeped out his door a little and saw his dad carrying a revolver. The sight of it struck fear right into him

"I'm sorry, Gina. But it's the only way to end our misery..." he said to his wife, pointing the gun at her

"We can find a way! We can be together for us long as we believe! I thought our bond was stronger than this!"

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, sobbing as he pulled the trigger. Young Six watched as the bullet reached his mother's chest, effectively ending her life. He was in such trauma at the moment, and he wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next. He saw Richard make his way towards him room, carrying the gun. Samuel knew what was going to happen, so he ran out the door from his room and dashed right to the door. He heard a BANG! and saw the bullet reach near his feet while he was running. He looked behind and saw his dad walking briskly rather than running.

He continued running until he found a place to hide by a closed convenience store, apparently nobody locks the door there. He hid behind one of the counters for a while and looked outside. He saw his dad looking left and right, trying to see if his son was in sight. He was gripping the gun tightly, while Samuel was gripping his chest, to stop his heart from pumping so hard. Suddenly, Richard fell to the ground, kneeling. He was crying heavily

"What am I doing? What have I done?" he heard him muffle under his hands. His eyes became puffy from crying and his nose was runny. He stared into the empty sidewalk absentmindedly and started to lift the weapon to his head. Samuel stared in shock and knew what he was about to do. He ran out of his hiding place immediately and ran for the door. But before he could do anything about his father's actions, it was too late. He saw his limp body blocking his way. Samuel was in too much trauma to handle everything that had just happened

"I thought our bond was stronger than this" he whispered to himself, mimicking his mother's last words, _If bonds are this fragile, why make such things at all?_, he thought. He cried the whole night as he went back to his house. He didn't want to go to school the next morning. The police came to his house for an investigation after one of his neighbors reported what happened that night. He was just lying on the bed, not moving an inch. After the investigation, funeral and burial, Samuel was sent to the orphanage

"So, what's your name, young man?" the elderly woman who ran the orphanage asked him

"S-Six" he stuttered out

"Six?"

"Yes...Six"

_I don't want to remember,_  
_The things we used to do,_  
_All the things that remind me of you._  
_I don't want to hear those songs,_  
_Those songs we used to sing,_  
_'Cause I don't wanna feel the pain in my heart_

And from then on, Samuel barely existed. He almost disappeared from the face of the earth. Few remembered him though. He went under the name Six, because that was the number of bullets his dad had loaded in his gun, including those that he fired. It also stood for the initials in his name, Samuel Ian Xiawu. Ever since he was recruited to Providence, he masked his emotions even more, showing off a poker face and wore those mysterious glasses.

_I just can't believe, you're gone..._

Six finally decided to stop reminiscing and went inside the room. Adrian saw Six go in and turned off the computer, stopping the song

"Six, what are you doing here?" Adrian asked in a high, quiet voice

"Holiday and Rex told me" he briefly replied. Adrian knew what he was talking about, so he didn't bother to ask

"Oh"

"Has it been hard?" he asked in stoic tone

"Harder than concrete. It's not easy"

"I know"

"You do?"

"Trust me, I've known more than you think"

Adrian just raised an eyebrow

"You know, you're gonna have to let them go" Six told him

"You say you know more than I think I do. Shouldn't you understand my situation too?"

"You can't keep dwelling on the past"

"I'm going to stop dwelling when I find what I'm looking for"

"What would that be?"

"A family...one that would truly care for me, and never leave me alone"

"Well, we can't always get what we want"

"Why is it so hard for you to understand?" Adrian snapped back in anger

"I understand. I'm simply thinking logically"

"Well, maybe logic isn't always the answer! And if you're just gonna talk like this, then just get out of my room!" he yelled angrily, pointing at the door

Six simply stood up and politely bade goodbye. Soon, he heard sobbing again

_Way too go, Six...way to go_, he thought sarcastically and walked away

**That same night**

Holiday heard a crash from upstairs. She knew something was wrong. She immediately rushed to the source of the disturbance. Once she reached the assumed floor, she looked around to see if anything was out of place. So far, everything was serene and quiet, but then she saw smoke coming from a particular room, Adrian's room. She ran to the door and punched in the code. Once the door swooshed open, she became shocked at the sight. Everything was totally messed up. His computer was on the ground, his table was scratched and a bunch of parts were sliced off, his metal walls were dented, his bed and pillows' cotton was spread everywhere and his scooter was missing. The most noticeable feature at the moment was the huge hole at the back of the room that leads to the outside. When she went closer, she saw a large trail of smoke and a familiar figure moving away at a fast pace. She got her phone and called up Rex (she's got him on speed dial)

"Rex!"

Rex was sleeping soundly in his room until his phone's ringtone cut it short. He got up drowsily and took the phone, pressing the answer button

"Rex here" he said in a slurry voice

"Come here to Adrian's room. We have a problem" she said. She knew exactly what happened and who did this

**Yeah, sorry for making Six seem soft and then suddenly cold. I just assumed he didn't want to show any signs of weakness. Please don't hate me for that. As for the song, it isn't just for love, and I think it spoke about Adrian's feelings after being separated. And for Six's violent flashback, I tried my best not to make it too detailed, because for now, I want to maintain the K+ rating**


	21. On the Swings

Rex got up and put on his pants, since he already had his shirt on. He wasn't exactly sure what was happening because he was sleeping so soundly, but by the way Holiday called him, he knew it was urgent. He was pretty far from Adrian's room so he wasn't aware of the scenario. He ran down the hall and finally reached the destination. As he looked inside, Rex was just as shocked as Holiday was when she first entered the room. She was inside, just staring at the giant hole on the wall. Rex walked closer and stood next to her

"What...what happened?" he asked, still looking left and right at the mess that's been made

"Adrian happened" she responded nonchalantly

"Huh?" he said, obviously not fully understanding the situation

"It's Adrian's nanites that are the problem" she explained

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after I had your nanite check this afternoon, I decided to give Adrian one too. At first, his nanites assumed normal activity. After he left, I took a look again and saw his other half of nanites were...dim. They were slowly starting to activate. In fact, he's halfway to a full EVO transformation"

"Is that why he's been acting weird?"

"Yes, maybe because he's still half EVO, he maintained his EVO's appearance and personality. Now, he's showing signs of his abilities"

"So, he just ran off?"

"He seemed to be aware of his situation, so he left before he could hurt anyone"

"Couldn't I have cured his nanites before?"

"No, Rex. You could only cure regular human that have been turned fully into EVOs. Remember he's only half EVO. But oddly enough, half his nanites are incurable"

"Incurable? How could one half of his nanites be incurable?"

"I'm not sure"

Suddenly, Six came in, wearing only his white dress shirt and green pants, having heard the crash too

"What happened?" he asked

"Adrian broke out" Rex said

"At midnight?"

"It's his nanites. They're acting up" Holiday explained

"How so?"

"Half his nanites are starting to activate"

"That's bad"

"Really, Six?" Rex said sarcastically

"Come on, we need to catch on to him and cure him. Or at least one half of him" Rex added as he jumped out the hole and brought out his Rex Ride right before he hit the ground. He went off full speed ahead, leaving Six and Holiday behind

"By the way, Six. Nice clothes, you should set a fashion statement here" he yelled before leaving. Six simply scowled at it again

"You wanna take the jet?" she asked innocently, not wanting to take any other transport

"Do you want to attract a lot of attention in the middle of the night? No, we're taking my hover board" he said as he ran as fast as he could to grab his flying vehicle

"Oh, joy" she mumbled to herself

Meanwhile, Adrian was peddling on his scooter through the streets furiously. But as sudden as he left Providence, he stopped for a while and looked at his surroundings. He was in the playground he used to play in as a kid. He forgot about the danger he might cause soon and walked to the swing set. He sat down on one of the swings and began rocking himself back and forth, looking at the ground. He loved his memories here. He used to slide down the huge yellow slide here, now, it looks rusted, its colors were fading and it looks a whole lot smaller than he remembered. He used to like playing on the seesaw as well, but now, they removed it and was replaced with a small sandbox instead. But his most favorite place was the swings. He and Sarah used to play there the most. He would sit down and soar high while Sarah stood behind him, ready to give him a little push whenever he needed it to go higher

As he thought about that, he thought about the irony of it. The way they used to play on the swings was like how his relationship with her worked out. When ever he was feeling down, she would be there to 'push' him into gaining his confidence again, and he would eventually get to the top again, soaring high in the sky

He pondered on these thoughts until a shady figure appeared before him. Considering he was actually sleep deprived, he couldn't see exactly who it was

"Rex?" he said quietly

"Good guess, but not good enough" the "guy" said in a gruff voice. He then lifted his "arm" up and hit him directly on the head, injuring him and knocking him out. Another figure came out and carried the boy over his shoulder

"Come on, we wouldn't want to keep master waiting" a light voice said, it was Breach

"Hmph, kiss up" Biowulf commented

"Just hurry up already" Skalamander scolded. Breach made the swirling, red portal with her big arms and proceeded to go inside, until something interrupted her

"Hey! Don't you go thinking you can get away with my friend here"

They turned around saw it was none other than what they consider the little nuisance, Rex. He had his BFS on and had his "battle face", trying to force a fight. Skalamander attacked Rex while Biowulf and Breach tried to get away. It was at that moment Six and Holiday arrived. Mr. Green (I've always wanted to use that) jumped off and brought out his katanas from under his sleeves, aiming for the metal canine. He slashed him slightly, causing him to let go of Adrian. Holiday jumped off as well and caught the unconscious boy. Breach appeared from out of her portal and tried to take him from the doctor. She jumped back, until another portal appeared behind her, the four-armed girl trying to make another blow. Luckily, Six caught on in time and deflected the attack away from her

"Carry him to safety" he ordered. She nodded and ran away from the scene, trying to wake Adrian up in the process

Rex was still fighting off Skalamander. He tried slashing him a couple of times, but he only shielded himself with his crystal arm

"For a fat, stubby guy with 2 left feet, you sure move fast" he commented. This angered the reptile EVO slightly and landed a blow to Rex's foot, breaking it. Rex stumbled down in pain and Skalamander fired crystals at him to keep him down. Now there was only Six to get rid of. Six and Biowulf were still at each other's necks. It was always a tie when they fought each other, it's usually numbers that give any of the two an advantage, and unfortunately, Biowulf had that advantage at the moment. Skalamander had fired crystals towards Six, but he evaded them effortlessly. What he couldn't evade was the next blow he received from Breach, who came out of nowhere as always. He got kicked in the gut and pinned down by Biowulf

"Get the boy" he ordered. Bleach complied and went to the other side

Holiday was still trying to wake him up, at the same time bandaging up the wound he has after the hit on his head. Good thing a good doctor like her always brings a first-aid kit

"Come on, Adrian. Wake up" she whispered to him. Nothing happened, no reply, no move or anything. Suddenly, a red portal appeared behind her. She thought Breach was coming for her again so she got ready to defend. But it was nothing but a mere distraction, because from behind, the creepy girl got a hold of Adrian. She saw the portal before her disappear and the one Breach recently appeared from. Breach opened up another portal to the other side, transporting Skalamander and Biowulf away. Rex eventually broke free of the crystals, cutting his jacket

"Grr! They got away!" Rex yelled in anger

"Don't worry, Rex. We know where they're going" Six said

"Let me guess, you tagged him with a tracker?"

"No, he tagged himself with a tracker. He forgets to take it off sometimes" he explained as he brought out a small handheld device from his pocket. It was a small radar

"So, where are they?" Holiday asked. Rex took a look at the radar himself and furiously exclaimed

"Abysus"

**So yeah, this is my latest chapter, hope you like it! And yeah, I've always wanted to call Six "Mr. Green". I've learned to like this chapter for 2 reasons:**

**1. It's just a small part of what awaits Adrian in the end**

**2. I wrote it on my birthday! (too bad I had to make this one the time Adrian gets captured)**


	22. In Abysus Part 1

**Thanks for the greeting Tessdragon! Anyways, the story is on!**

Adrian had recently woken up after being unconscious for at least an hour. He opened his eyes weakly and observed the place. There was dark, but there was enough light for him to see the room itself. It had a metal door at one side with bars. The room had numerous vines and roots into the room through the brick walls. Speaking of vines and roots, he noticed four are attached to his arms and legs, leaving him incapacitated. He tried struggling, but they would only stretch and wouldn't snap

"Feels kinda like deja vu" he mumbled to himself

Rex, Holiday and Six had to go back to Base and grab a jet, it wasn't easy since jets didn't take off quietly and they had to leave their trackers elsewhere, otherwise Knight would find out. They flew off and Six was driving, while Rex and Holiday, who was wearing her Providence uniform, were at the back

"What do you think Kleiss wants with Adrian?" Rex asked the doctor

"It could be he's using him for bait, or, a different reason we don't know about" she said, "Either way, we still have to rescue him"

Rex nodded in agreement and waited until they reached Abysus

Adrian hung his head low and closed his eyes for a while. He knew this place, he just didn't know why he was here, and couldn't exactly remember how he even got there in the first place. But by the looks of it, it ain't gonna be pretty. Not at all. His thoughts were cut short when he heard the rusty metal door open and a shadow appeared on the opposite wall. The figure walked inside. Adrian was familiar with him. He had dark red eyes that practically spoke evil, pale skin with a grayish tone, long black hair with long bangs, some of which were white. He was tall and broad and had a creepy metal arm thingy. He had a brownish red suit that kinda looked it hasn't been washed since...ever and had big black boots which made his footsteps echo through the room.

It was none other than the Pack leader, Van Kleiss.

"Ah, Adrian. It's a pleasure to be seeing you again" he said politely

"Too bad the feeling ain't mutual" Adrian muttered aloud

"Oh, Adrian. Don't act like you're not happy to see me"

"I'm not. Now what do you want with me?"

"Nothing of the sort. I just want to show a certain someone a little something" he said, chuckling menacingly. Adrian had every intention of breaking that laugh, so he tried to punch him. He knew the vine would only stretch, so he went for it. But alas, his fist didn't even make contact. It only stayed in front of Van Kleiss' face before it went back to its original place

"Now, boy, you know it's very rude for a guest to try and punch their host"

"You should also know it's rude to tie up your guests with vines and leave them in a dungeon"

"Well, maybe I should listen to my advice sometime" he said as he turned around to leave, "I'll be back with a visitor. I'm sure she's just dying to see you" and he finally left and closed the door

"Visitor?" he asked himself

Meanwhile, Rex and company has just arrived and have been sneaking around to try and avoid attention (despite the fact the jet already granted them that attention). They've been facing a couple of EVOs, but good thing it was enough not to disturb Van Kleiss too much. They finally reached the castle and went the back entrance through The Garden. They were walking around quietly until Rex accidentally knocked something over. Six and Holiday glared at him

"What?"

Suddenly, a group of one eyed EVOs came running through the halls, looking for the intruders. Six got ready for combat and started fending off the EVOs. Rex started to do a little mashing himself, but Six told him to stop

"Rex, you and Holiday go and find Adrian. I'll take it from here" he ordered

"You can't take all of them alone, they're too many!" he yelled back after ransacking one of the creatures

"Don't question orders now, just go!" he said, slicing one in half

"Come on, Rex. They're not our problem right now" Holiday said, grabbing his wrist. Rex had no choice but to follow. He brought out his Ride, told Holiday to hop on and they drove off. They encountered a bunch of the EVOs on the way, but Rex just went on, ramming through every one of them while Holiday fired at some who were following them. After getting loose from every EVO, they started searching through every door in the castle. So far, they don't have much luck in looking for him.

Adrian had been hanging for quite some time now. The vines were rough so he was in pain. In fact, his wrists have started bleeding slightly. Suddenly, he heard the sound of doors being opened and slammed closed. Seems like Rex was here.

"Rex, if that's you, over here!" he yelled out

Rex heard the cry and went straight to the source. He broke open the door with his Smack Hands and saw Adrian

"Wow, how long have you been hanging around?" Rec said, trying to make a joke

"Now's not really the time for puns, just let me go" Adrian commented. Rex brought out the BFS and slashed the vines. Th e rest that were still tied to him withered away

"Now come on" Rex said, throwing him a case and rolling him his collapsible scooter (yeah, they had it with them all along), "Let's get out of here"

Adrian and Rex ran through the halls and saw Dr. Holiday being surrounded by a group of EVOs. She dodged their attacks effortlessly but there were too many of them. They took away her gun and smashed it. Good thing the boys came on time. Rex was on his favorite vehicle, began ramming through again and Holiday got on the Ride. Adrian had been peddling as well, keeping one hand on the bars, the other hand holding one of the metal arnis sticks (that's been his weapon ever since) and bashing away the EVOs. Things were starting to become weary for Adrian when he began seeing everything as red

_Darn it! The transformation's progressing!_, he thought angrily as he hit another one in the eye. He was coming close to catching up with Rex and Holiday when Van Kleiss appeared from the ground. He grabbed his scooter, forcing him to stop and stumble in front of him.

"Adrian, you can't just suddenly leave without saying goodbye"

"Yes I can"

"Oh, not without receiving a little "gift" from yours truly"

"Thanks but no thanks, I'll wait for my birthday" he replied, standing up. But once he stood up, Van Kleiss laid his golden hand on his chest and it started to glow yellow

"You won't be going anywhere" he said intimidatingly


	23. EVO Rampage Part 2

Adrian fell to the ground in pain. He saw the handprint on his chest

"No...not again" he muttered

His hair began growing long. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, revealed them to be pupil-less and the whites of his eyes are now red. Fangs started to grow in his mouth, wide and sharp. He grew bigger and bigger. Whiskers and a mane appeared on his face and fur covered his body

Rex was still busy with the EVOs that he didn't notice Adrian wasn't following him anymore. It wasn't until he heard a cry

"What was that?" Holiday asked. Right after that, they heard a howl so loud that they swore their ears were already bleeding. They went outside to see, but it wasn't even there, it was from the inside, but they could see it more than fine from where they're standing. It was a giant, black EVO wolf with two heads and three tails. It had huge fangs and a snarl that says, "I could kill you, you know?". Rex stared at it for a while because it seemed like this EVO was familiar, but everything was a little dim.

Then, the EVO lifted a paw and aimed for Holiday and Rex. Rex was still in a trance, so Holiday had to push him out of the way

"Thanks doc" he said as he stood up and brought out the Slam Cannon. He got ready to aim and fired a rock at him. The beast stepped back and took another swoop, breaking the cannon and they landed on their backs

"Rex, I see you've met my little friend" Rex heard a voice. It was Van Kleiss

"What did you do to Adrian?"

"I thought you were smart enough to know the obvious" Rex got mad. He's turned his friend into the rampaging EVO he didn't want to be again. Why were things happening so fast?

"Rex!" they heard. It was Six. He just recently came out the castle after hearing the crash

"What's happening?" he asked

"Adrian. Kleiss turned him into an EVO" Holiday said. Six brought out his katanas and didn't hesitate to attack

"Six, wait!" Rex tried to stop him, but he was already on his way. Rex brought out his Nunchuck Arms

"Try to get the jet airborne and try to weaken him in anyway. Fire missiles, anything will have to do for now" and he ran to the scene

Six was running towards him started slashing him, giving him wounds and cuts, but he still hit him away. Rex came in and beat his leg. Then, he brought out the Punk Busters and jumped up. He had the intention of hitting him just to bring him down and cure him. Unfortunately, he used one of his tails to destroy the giant metal boots and Rex fell in a heap. He then brought out his Whip Arm and extended it, wrapping it around the creature's tails. He sent out an electrical surge that shocked him, but still won't go down. Holiday managed to get the jet working and flew towards him. She launched out a couple of missiles, but Adrian let out a loud growl, destroying the missiles and messing up the jet. The flying vehicle was starting to crash land, so Holiday was in trouble. Six got up again and saw the jet going down, with the doctor in it. He got up immediately as he saw her try to get out through the door. She jumped out and Six managed to catch her and break her fall when he fell down, butt first.

"Are you okay?" he asked

"Yeah"

Their problems weren't over yet. EVO Adrian was still on an Abysus rampage. As they were battling the beast, a female figure came out the castle. She had long black hair, but half of it was dyed red. She had pale skin and dark brown eyes. She was wearing knee high boots with high heels, yet she somehow manages to run very well in them

"Circe?" Rex said in shock

"Rex, what's going on?" she asked

"Well, see that EVO?" he pointed

"How could I miss it?"

"That's my friend. Van Kleiss turned him into that"

"And who is this friend?"

"Adrian"

"Adrian..." she repeated. The name brought back something, and she knew what it was. It's-

Her thought were interrupted when the beast let out a snarl. He opened his mouth and a large ball of light started to form

"No way..." Rex commented. He was making a compressed fire ball within his mouth

"What's happening?" Rex asked once Holiday and Six got to his side

"That's a high concentration of heat and energy. If he releases that-" Holiday said

"We'll end up being roast chicken?" Rex finished

"In a way, yes"

He was almost ready to let out the giant ball until they heard a sonic scream. They looked for the source, it came from Circe. She managed to stop him from firing the giant ball, but it didn't stop him from causing havoc. In the sidelines, though it was practically destroying his home, Van Kleiss was pleased with the destruction he's made. He was smiling sadistically as he saw his creation wreck everything in sight, especially his greatest enemies

"Hurry, Rex. Before he becomes completely incurable" Holiday warned. Rex nodded and went closer to Adrian. He brought out the Smack Hands and kept punching him in the legs. He brought out the Punk Busters, jumped up and brought out his whip, and electrocuted him. He finally went down weak and with a giant THUD! Its two heads were throbbing. Rex finally went near him and laid his hand. The bright blue glow appeared, lines lit up and slowly, Adrian went back to his normal self. He was unconscious because of everything that's happened. Holiday, Six and Circe went to his side. Circe was actually very shocked to see the boy's true form

"We gotta leave already" Six said, carrying Adrian over his shoulder

"Right" Rex said in agreement. They all boarded the jet (luckily, it managed to hold together a little) and left. The female teen watched as the Providence Jet took off. Moments after they left, Adrian finally woke up

"Hn...what happened?" he said weakly

"You went EVO, 'cuz of Van Kleiss" Rex explained

"Oh...of course it was him"

"You know him?" Holiday questioned

"Trust me, we go way back...by the way, where's my scooter?" he said as he looked around, not seeing his 'vehicle' in sight. Rex groaned and offered to go back and get it

**Back in the castle**

Circe was at Van Kleiss' throne, furious at him

"Why'd you have to turn him into an EVO again?" she said angrily

"I always thought it would be fun to see the boy cause some wreckage again. He did better than he did last time" he said

"I just wanted to see him"

"Well, you got your chance to see him, didn't you?" and he walked away from his seat of power. Circe still stood there in tears and let her EVO scream echo through the halls. Betrayal, that's what Van Kleiss did. And that's what all he does


	24. Trust

**Okay, for now, I'm gonna be doing filler chapters for a while. But don't worry, I'll make sure they make sense and are connected to the story**

It had been a couple of weeks since the Abysus incident. Adrian had tried to forget about everything that happened. But that didn't mean he slept well the following nights. He was still having nightmares about everything. About his EVO form, about the destruction he's caused, and about his family. Deep inside, he knows his sister's still out there, he just has to keep looking. He got out of bed lazily. He rubbed away the mist of sleepiness from his eyes and looked at the clock. 10:00 am, 3/13/11. He stretched his arms and yawned. He went to take his bath and hummed a familiar tune along the way. While he was showering, he thought about everything. If he can't get it out of his mind, why try and fight it?

**Flashback**

_"Don't hurt him!" Sarah said_

_"I'm not going to hurt him, dear child. Just see what he could possibly be capable of" Van Kleiss replied as he laid his hand on the unconscious boy hanging from the wall. It glowed yellow and within a matter of minutes, Adrian became an EVO. Sarah looked up in shock. Despite all she did to stop him, it was too late._

**End of Flashback**

He teared up a little as he went out the CR. He grabbed the towel and went back to his room and changed. A few moments after combing his hair, styling it so it would go in front like it's supposed to, Six came in

"What is it?" he asked, still looking at the mirror

"Holiday needs you in the lab"

"Why?"

"She needs to inspect your nanites for any recent activity"

"Didn't I get something like that last week?"

"Just come with me" and he walked away. Adrian just followed him anyways. Down the halls they went and to the Petting Zoo, towards the Tower. As the door slid open, a flash of light almost blinded him. He opened his eyes slowly and saw a banner that read "Hapy Birtday, Kid!". He eventually realized what was going on when he read the misspelled banner. They knew it was his birthday!

"What the?" he said in shock, still looking absentmindedly at the decorations and the people around. Rex, Holiday (who was wearing her maroon sweater), Bobo, Callan and a few agents and scientists were there.

"Happy Birthday, in case you missed the banner" Rex said, approaching him and placed a green and blue polka-dotted party hat

"How...how did you-?" he tried to say, but was interrupted by Holiday

"Six let us go in the Secret Files Room, and we found one file about you, Mr. Adrian Joshua Denver Cruz!" she explained, smiling all the while because she successfully learned his full name

"Six?" he said, pointing at the man behind him

"Trust me, I don't believe it either" Bobo whispered to him

"Wow...this is amazing" then he took one more look at the banner, "But the banner could use some work, though. Who made it anyways?" he asked

"Bobo" everyone responded

"Well, maybe you've learned your lesson about leaving a monkey to do a banner" he replied, making them chuckle

"So...where's the cake?" he asked, "I haven't had breakfast yet, you know?"

"Alright, here" Holiday said as she brought out a vanilla cake with a "13" candle on it. He blew the candle and everyone ate the cake

"Don't worry, doc didn't make this so you won't break your teeth" he mentioned, commenting about his previous cake from his previous party. Adrian chuckled and proceeded to chow down. After a couple of minutes, everyone started giving their gifts. He got a portable game console from one of the scientists (he said it was still experimental, though), a Providence uniform from one of the agents, a gag gift from Bobo (it was a piece of fake doo doo), a new pair of arnis sticks from Six (since they left the previous pair in Abysus, and it got destroyed too), a new Apple Computer from Holiday (since he destroyed his when he ran away) and a video camera from Rex

"Thanks for everything, guys..You guys are..." but he didn't finish it anymore, since he knows actions speak louder than words. He hugged them all tight, but Six didn't want to get involved

"Hey, you're kinda squeezing the life out of me, kid" Bobo said, seemingly running out of breath. Adrian let go and gave them a chance to breathe

"Sorry" he said. He then looked for Six. He actually left already. He went looking for him once the party was over. He went looking around and eventually found him in the Training Room. He sneaked behind him and tried to surprise him, but Six sensed his presence and just jumped out of the way. Adrian fell on the floor, chest on the ground

"Aw, come on. Will you get burned if I even try to make physical contact?" he said jokingly

"Yes" he said sarcastically, though he didn't show any signs of it. Adrian just pouted

"You really need to work on social skills, and that all starts with a hug" he said as he lifted up his arms

"No"

"Come on"

"No"

"Just one hug"

"No!"

"Fine...you win" he said. As he left, he was smirking all they way. For a short while, Six continued his training. Suddenly, he sensed other people's presence. He spun around to see who it was, but he saw no one was there. He continued practicing forms and kicks until he heard footsteps...and giggling. He finally decided to investigate. He went behind the stairs and saw 3 familiar figures. He looked at a little more, and right before he could even decipher who those people were, he was pounced on by the figures and they were...laughing?

"Aw, man! We got you good, huh, Six?" Rex said, laughing uncontrollably. Holiday and Adrian were laughing along as well. They gave Six a chance to stand up, but they surrounded him again and hugged him. Six could feel the warmth in his body, not just from their body temperatures, but also from deep inside them. The warmth of people who care about him is what he needed for a long time since then. Six felt like hugging back, but he dared not betray any type of emotion, so he held back. After a couple of moments, they finally let go of the green ninja

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Adrian said, "Oh, wait, we haven't gotten to the _agawan _yet", he added

"What's _agawan_?" Rex asked as they left

"You'll find out" he said

Six was deep in thought about that little event. Rarely had he ever been touched, or ever been caught off guard. But because of the people he's with, he feels like it's okay to betray any sort of emotion. Trust...it's one thing he hasn't given anyone in a long time. He walked out the room, smiling and can't wait to see Adrian And Rex do their _agawan_.

**In case you haven't made the connection between Van Kleiss and Adrian, I'll tell you right here, right now, cuz the flashback above is supposed to explain it to an extent. Van Kleiss was the one who turned Adrian into an EVO the first time. The reason why half of Adrian's nanites are incurable is because Rex wasn't able to heal him completely the first time, right? If you watched Rampage, Holiday said that when Van Kleiss turns someone into an EVO, the nanites are unstable, causing them to become permanent if not cured with in a specific amount of time. If you still don't get it, do the math. And yeah, I love connecting Adrian to the people around him. It's perfectly healthy to make bonds, and mend them when they're broken**

_**agawan - it's a Filipino thing we do for parties. There are like goodies on this grid thing, and someone lowers it and you have to get as many as possible.**_


	25. Ironic

Adrian was on the verge of closing his eyes shut. He was just staring at Holiday right now, but everything that came out of her mouth sounded like a static blur. His eyes were heavy and he was bored like crazy. Perhaps a few seconds of closing his eyes will...and right after that, he fell asleep. He was snoring lightly and Holiday flinched when she saw her pupil sleeping on her shoulder

"ADRIAN!" she snapped, catching his attention

"What? My life is a lie!" he suddenly screamed. He was surprised and woke up immediately. He looked around and saw his was still in the lab, taking his lessons in Science, with Holiday next to him, and he noticed a hint of drool on her sleeve

"Oh...hehe, sorry" he said, feeling embarrassed, wiping the drool off the doctor's shoulder. Holiday let out a sigh and continued with their lesson on the circulatory system

"Now, what's the liquid part of blood?" she asked

"Uh...plasma" he answered, drawing circles on the paper in front of him, trying to prevent himself from sleeping

"And what pigment causes blood to be red?"

"He..Hemo...globin...Hemoglobin"

"Okay, let's move on to the nervous system" she said, turning the page of the book on the table

"Hey, doc. Can we call it quits for today? We've been studying since lunch and it's already 5pm. Isn't 5 hours of continuous studying enough to make me suffer?" he said, banging his head on the table. Holiday looked at the clock hanging on the wall. Adrian wasn't exaggerating. They have been studying for 5 hours straight

"Okay, Adrian, lessons are over. But, you're still going to have to review about the nervous system" she said, handing him the book and left to continue the rest of her work. He groaned and looked at the book. "Advanced Biology and Molecular Physics", it read on the cover. No wonder this stuff was hard, she was making him read a textbook meant for people 6 years older than him! He banged his head against the table once more

"UGH! They expect too much from me!" he yelled to himself. His still high voice echoed through the room. Then, he heard sirens go off. The room was filled with red lights. That could only mean one thing, Rex was gonna battle another EVO! He was excited. There hasn't been another EVO sighting in a week, so he can't wait to see his friends (yes, he considers Six a friend) in action again. He began running towards his room, then suddenly, he stopped, then he thought to himself

Why settle for boring TV? Why not see them in real action?

He ran back and went to the landing platforms, where they keep the jets and the Hellicarrier. They were taking the big one this time. He sneaked past the guards by wearing his own uniform (you know, the one that agent gave him for his birthday). Suddenly, the head soldier, who was guarding the door to the Hellicarrier, stopped him

"Are you qualified for this mission, son?" the man asked. He had a think Western accent

"Uh..yes, sir, I am!" he said in the most convincing voice he could come up with and saluted at him

"Very well, then" he replied, handing him over a gun, "Good luck, soldier" and he saluted

"I won't exactly need it, but thanks anyways" he mumbled to himself. He was in the place where they keep the main weapons. He hid behind a barrel that was full of bullets and looked around for a while, making sure no one was there while he looked around. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming this way. They were quiet and subtle, but firm as well. He peeped a little and saw it was none other than Six. He had been looking for a gun for a new rookie on the job. He eventually got spotted by him

"What are you doing here?" he asked him with authority. Adrian was shaking, but tried his best to maintain his composure

"I was just l-looking for a weapon, sir" he responded. He actually brought his arnis sticks

"Well, get one quickly, we're about to leave" he said, turning around. Adrian took out a gun from one of the racks anyways and ran to the main room. Soon enough, he got into a seat and buckled his seatbelt. The Hellicarrier was shaking, and after some moments, it went airborne and flew straight to downtown Manhattan. Adrian was both excited and nervous at the same time. What was going to happen? Will they make it out alive? Will he get involved somehow?

Some time later, they were already hovering over the city and he can see the monster from where he was perfectly. It was a giant EVO squid with thorns on its tentacles. Rex had hacked the door with his nanites again, allowing him to spring into action early. Six went after him and went to the scene himself. Rex had brought out his gigantic sword and kept slashing each and every tentacle that came his way, but they kept growing back. Six had tried cutting the tentacles off as well, but received the same amount of luck Rex had, and settled for saving the civilians for a while. The squid was going out of control and the battle was taking far too long. Adrian got out of his seat for a while and sneaked out to the door. He looked at the battle. Things weren't looking too bright. It was getting on Rex's nerves and bios seemed to be going down

"Oh, Rex" He said to himself worriedly

Suddenly, the squid slammed one of its tentacles towards the Hellicarrier. It went through the flying vehicle and killed a few soldiers on contact. It rocked it to the side and knocked some of them off, including Adrian. He was falling fast and he didn't know what to do. He was facing the ground and it was fast approaching. He closed his eyes and awaited his death, until he felt hard metal clash with his body, but landed safely anyways. He opened his tightly closed eyes and saw Rex has caught him with his Smack Hands

"You alright?" he said, reverting his hand back to normal. Since Adrian was still wearing the uniform, he thought he was a soldier

"Yeah, I'm fine" he said in his normal voice, but Rex didn't even notice. Suddenly, one of its long, pink tentacles started firing thorns at them. Rex brought out the BFS again and used it as a shield. Then, he took out the Slam Cannon and fired a ball of concrete at the creature. It was starting to aim for Adrian, so he jumped out of the way and brought out sticks. He ran up the tentacle and started beating it relentlessly, using a part of his EVO strength to do so. He wasn't doing the best, but it was working, and was distracting the squid long enough for Rex come closer and cure it. Once he saw the teen EVO close enough to the squid, he stopped and jumped off in one quick move. The second he touched the ground, he saw the EVO's real form. It was actually a woman in her early 20's

"Wow" Adrian said to himself. He's never been so nervous, excited, scared and energized all at the same time in his whole life! He felt a sudden rush of emotions flood him at those moments. He got back to the ship to return to Base

"That guy did a great job distracting that thing...but I did most of the work" Rex said as he told Adrian his story and he thought, _This is so ironic_


	26. Tsokolate

It was 11:30pm. It was pitch black and there was a long stream of silence throughout the whole base. Not a single soul wandered through the halls, you wanna know why? Because two souls wandered through the halls, and those were Adrian and Rex. They just wanted to get a midnight snack at Munching Mexican in the city

"You ready?" Rex asked the boy behind him

"Yeah" he responded quietly, dragging his scooter slightly. They continued walking through the base until they arrived at the exit, where the huge platform is. Rex brought out his Boogie Pack and Adrian jumped on his back

"Woah! What have you been eating?" he asked jokingly, but really did seem to have a hard time carrying him

"I dunno. A couple of nachos, some bacon and spaghetti or that stuff Dr. Holiday considers food and what I consider concrete" he replied jokingly as well. Rex flew off and reached the city in no time

"Come on, let's go! Munching Mexican closes in 1 hour!" Rex said. Adrian wasn't exactly listening to him, he was too busy staring at the place

"Hey, uh...can I go around here for a sec? Can you just go buy me a burrito with extra meat and large nachos?" he pleaded

"Hm...fine. But I get half of that burrito. And we gotta meet back here at 1, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure" and they parted ways. Adrian used his scooter to travel around. He looked at the familiar houses, parking lots, closed malls and the playground where he was captured. This whole neighborhood was part of his childhood. He peddled a little further until he reached a dead end of houses. The one right in the middle was extremely familiar. It had a gray roof and a window next to it, which gives to you access to that very place. The entire house was big and made of red bricks. He got closer and turned the copper doorknob, opening the white wooden door. He went inside and looked around. He was in the living room. It had a big, black leather couch, a big flat screen TV hanging from the wall. The white tile floor seemed immaculate and so do the white walls. He delved deeper into the shelter and went up the stairs right across from the door. It was a long way up, you know? He saw one door to his left and went to it. It was just the bathroom. The walls were a yellow hue and the lights just increased its contrast. He left and looked at the other rooms. One was the master's bedroom and the other room had two beds, a blue one near the window, and a white one near the door. He got inside and looked at all the things inside. He went to the blue bed and lied down on it. He seemed to fit in perfectly. At first, it was uncomfortable because he could feel a lump under him. He got up and looked under the blankets. The object felt...soft and fluffy. He pulled it out to get a better view of it. It was a brown teddy bear about the size of 2 handballs

"I can't believe no one's touched this stuff. It's been ages, huh?" he whispered, fluffing off a bit of dirt from the small object of endearment. He knew this place very well, because this used to be his home. The place where he shared memories with his family, his friends and his relatives. He went out the window, for old time's sake. He still fit through and went to the back of the roof, lied down and stared at the clear sky. He put one hand at the back of his head, elevating it and the other on his chest. Eventually, he lost track of time

Rex had been waiting for him for quite some time now, it was already 1:30 am and still no sign of the 13-year-old. He then saw a figure behind him, it was Adrian, the boy he'd been looking for

"Where have you been?" Rex asked worriedly

"I went around, remember? You know this was my old neighborhood" he said with pride

"Oh, so your house is here?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why all our stuff is still there and why no one was occupying it" he said. Rex threw him a paper bag, containing the food he requested

"Thanks...by the way, how'd your trip go?" he asked, taking the half burrito from the bag and began munching on it

"No line, but the cashier guy was really cranky. I kept telling him extra meat on the burrito but he accidentally added vegetables instead, I got mad at him and he got mad. Blah, blah, blah, the rest is history. Just be grateful I still got you your food" Rex answered, taking a nacho chip covered in cheese from his bag, "What about your trip?"

"Just a small trip down memory lane" he said. Adrian folded up his scooter, got on Rex's back as he brought out his wings and flew away. Adrian got one more glimpse of his neighborhood before looking back up and realized Providence is where he'll be in for the mean time. He didn't see the shadow figure sitting upon the roof of their house, who got there as soon as he left, staring at him as he left

Back at Providence HQ, the two finished their Mexican munchies and went straight to sleep. Adrian took off his jacket and went to sleep. As he turned, he felt something disturbing him as he did. He took out the object from his pocket without opening his eyes and snuggled it close to his heaving chest.

It was his little teddy bear "Tsokolate"

**He has his own childish side, we all do. I still sleep with a teddy bear too, and I ain't ashamed! GO TEDDY BEAR LOVERS!**


	27. Puberty

Adrian woke up. He yawned, stretched out his arms and scratched his back. He's been feeling weird these last couple of days. His arms and legs have been hurting, he always felt like his throat burns and was going to explode and he's been imagining awkward scenarios when he's alone with the girls around Providence. He rubbed his head and got up, doing his regular morning routine. When he changed into one of his red shirts, it suddenly became tight, almost showing as if he has muscles. He put on a navy blue polo shirt over it, gray denim pants and black slippers. He walked out the room lazily and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Rex, Holiday, Six and Bobo were already eating on the table, eating eggs and wheat bread

"Good morning guys!" he said in a high squeaky yet uneven voice. He covered his mouth immediately after he realized what came out. They were staring at him weirdly, wondering what's going on

"Woah...what happened to your voice, dude? Sounds like you swallowed an accordion or something!" Rex laughed. Holiday got up and asked what was wrong

"I don't know. This is the first time I heard my voice like this" he said in a quieter voice, so Rex would stop laughing. Eventually, the older teen did, wiping a tear off his eye

"Maybe he's got laringitis" Rex suggested

"No, Rex. You don't get a high voice when you have laringitis. Your voice will get rough" Six rebutled

"Yeah. Besides, I gave him a physical and health examination last week, and everything in his body seemed to work fine, nothing was wrong" Holiday added

"Then what's wrong with me right now?" Adrian asked, drinking a glass of water, thinking the water would help soothe his throat

"He's going through puberty" Holiday replied. Out of surprise, Adrian spit out the water at Bobo

"What?" he said, making his voice accidentally squeakier. Rex laughed again and fell off his seat

"I thought the kid's voice is supposed to be smooth, not sound like a croakin' frog" Bobo commented

"Hey!"

"Well, since Adrian's still young and very new to this, his voice box is taking time to develop. I guess that's why you've been acting strange too"

"Hey, he got taller!" Rex commented. Adrian looked and saw he did get taller, at least an inch or two taller than Holiday now

"Well, so he has" Six said, who continued eating his food

"Does this mean I'll have to deal with the talk?" Adrian asked awkwardly

"I don't think you'll be getting that anytime soon. Even I haven't gotten that yet. I'm sure Six and Holiday are just hiding something from me" he said smugly, smirking. Holiday blushed a little and so did Six, though his is barely visible to the human eye, "So I'm trying to figure it out on my own" he added

"I can't believe I have to deal with people like this" he mumbled to himself inaudibly. He was rather annoyed, but kinda...happy about his current arrangement. This was just like his family, loving, caring and fun in their own way. Perhaps, he could stay here for some time, after all, 4 months here ain't half that bad

**Okay, this is the second to the last filler chapter. He's finally starting to grow up. The last one will tie everything together, I hope you'll like the next one! I'm already excited about writing it as soon as I get more reviews. And sorry for its shortness, I can't exactly get too specific with the whole puberty situation since this is stil in a K+ rating. And about the development in his voice box, that's just a theory I came up with when I heard my 13-year-old cousin speak, so Science geeks, don't get mad at me!**


	28. Journal

After a month since he's discovered his "problem", Adrian's been trying to adjust on growing up. His voice has finally gotten slightly deeper, he's getting taller and taller (already taller than Rex only by an inch, but this has still annoyed the 16-year-old), and he's getting stronger and faster (too bad he's still no good at offense). It was one of those days when Six, Rex and Adrian were having their training sessions. Six has suggested they wear martial arts clothes for once. They would feel more comfortable in them because they were looser and more fitting, it actually lets you breathe, according to him. Rex settled for a red uniform with black designs, while Adrian settled for the black with white deigns. They had been sparring for over 45 minutes or so. Rex was immediately out of breath, but Adrian was only half-tired

"Come on, one more round!" Adrian yelled in his new voice, in his fighting stance

"I'm beat, dude! I can't keep this up as long as you can, you know?" Rex huffed out and fell down in a heap out of exhaustion

"I can spar with you, if you want" Six suggested, taking out one of his katanas. Adrian remembered his first spar with him, and shook

"No! No thanks, Six. Besides, I think I'm feeling a little tired too" he lied immediately, still shaking

"Very well, then" Six said, returning his sword to his sleeve. Adrian eventually changed into a white shirt and black shorts and went back to his room. He lied down on his bed for a while and stared at a notebook sitting on the table on the other side of the room. It was a welcoming gift from Six after he got accepted to the team. He stood up from his bed, took the notebook and went through the pages

After an hour of rest, Rex was on the 5th floor, where Six's room is. He still hasn't given him back his game CD after confiscating it. He said he won't get it back for a month. It's been 5 months already!

_I bet he plays with it_, he thought suspiciously. The thought of Six actually playing with a video game actually amused him for a moment, but he still wanted his game back. He marched down the hall where Six's and Adrian's rooms were. He sneaked into Six's room and looked around for while. He checked under the big pillows, inside the gray drawers and on his huge TV set, but still nothing. He still went around for about 10 more minutes before finally giving up. He left the room and he heard footsteps. He saw a shadow on the other end on of the hall. It was Six! If he found him in this floor, he might know what he was up to! Rex immediately hacked into one of the doors next to him and jumped in it, waiting for him to pass by

"Whoo, that was close!" he whispered. He heard a moan. He looked around the dim place, the only thing lighting up the room was a lamp and the light from under the door. He was in Adrian's room. And he was sleeping on his bed. He guessed he must be a little tired as well. When he heard the footsteps fade away and heard a door swoosh, he decided it was finally safe to go out. But, being young, his curiosity took over. Sure, he's been in Adrian's room a bunch of times to hang out, he's never really paid attention to what the room looks like. He walked around it for a while and saw a dark blue notebook on the table. The cover was leather, according to his observation. He picked it up, unlatched the button closing it and flipped through the pages. He stopped at one, just written on the day of his birthday

_Mar. 13, 2011: My Birthday_

_Today was a special day, you know? It's my birthday! Oh yeah, I'm officially at the big 13! But now I feel old...weird. Anyways, had a great birthday today. When I was still with my family, I only get greeted, get gifts and a cake, I've never celebrated with friends. This was the first time I did, considering I'm not with my family anymore. It was still fun, either way. I got really cool gifts, got a really creamy cake and made new friends. It was way awesome! I felt at home that time. It's only been a month, would you believe that? And I feel like I've already made...connections or something._

Rex smiled at the entry. He was really feeling home, but by the sound of his entry, he seems like he still hasn't let go of the past. He went through the pages a little more and stopped at another one

_Apr. 20, 2011: Ironic_

_Okay, today started out kinda boring. I just had lessons with Dr. Holiday for 5 straight hours! Would you believe that? But I still liked it, she did look pretty today. Anyways, after a little bit, the alarm went off throughout the whole base. Another poor sap was turned into an EVO, was my guess. I ran hurriedly to my room, then I suddenly stopped. What's the purpose of going to my room to watch them on TV? I could just sneak into the Hellicarrier and see them for real, and that's exactly what I did. I put on one of those uniforms a soldier gave me for my birthday and ran straight for the landing platforms. I ran into one of the head soldiers, but I got away easily. I went to the weapons room, but Six caught me, good thing the mask I was wearing concealed my identity. He brought me to the main room and pushed me onto a chair. It was a rough and bumpy way to the city, good thing I made it without puking. I watched from above, and saw Rex spring immediately into action. He was awesome handling that EVO squid thing. Suddenly, one of its tentacles lashed towards the ship. I was really scared! Then, the ship turned, and I fell out. I thought I was gonna die, man! Then, metal clashed with my face, but at least I was still alive. Rex caught me, and he proceeded to attack the thing again. It wasn't even getting weak! So I took on my own action. I took out my arnis sticks and began bashing at the thing. I got on one of its tentacles and climbed up and continued beating the thing up. It got distracted long enough for Rex to cure it. Turns out the EVO was a woman, about 20 something. She looked kinda pretty, but I got dragged back to the ship. When I got back, I changed out of my uniform, it was stinking of squid ink. I know squid ink is supposed to be odorless, but this was an EVO, so it was different. I just hope it doesn't get stained. Suddenly, Rex came at me and went blabbing on about his battle and his victory, but gave some credit to the guy who distracted him, which was me! Talk about ironic, am I right?_

Rex smiled even wider. He didn't even think that guy was him. He should've known when he saw the arnis sticks, and he should've known too because almost every single soldier gets killed when an EVO attacks. He went on and read the other entries, about the time he got his teddy bear back, the time he fell off his scooter and Holiday helped him patch it up, the time he found out he was going through his puberty stage and other entries. Rex kept chuckling secretly, but always made sure Adrian was still asleep. He was already on the last entry, the one he just wrote today

_Sept. 29, 2011: Providence = Life_

_Sigh, it's been six or seven months since I've been in Providence, you know? All work and no play most of the time. Such a pain in the neck. Ugh. No matter how much it hurts in my body, the pain in my heart is actually starting to slither away. Sounds dramatic, huh? But, it's true. I've stopped dwelling in the past. I told Six I won't stop dwelling until I find a family, people who care for me. Then that happened, I found my family...Six, Holiday and Rex (and even Bobo)._

_Rex is like my older sister, except that he's a guy, so let's say he's like the older brother I've never had. He's compulsive, rebellious and annoying, but he's really supportive, caring and thoughtful. I just feel sorry for the guy because he can't remember his real family and all. It's just sad. Being separated is one thing, but not even remembering? Tragic. But by the looks of things, it seems like he's already got a family...like me._

_Dr. Holiday is like what every mom should be (except she's not married), caring, loving, constantly concerned and weary about Rex, Six and I. She's just like my mom, only prettier. Being really smart is a bonus too. She helps me with my lessons, she patches up my wounds when I get them and she still treats me like a 9-year-old, but as of now, I'm not complaining about it._

_Six...well...he's kinda like my dad (also not married though), strict, stern and stoic. I know that though he doesn't show it, he cares about Holiday, Rex and I. Knowing how to fight is just another bonus in my "family". He's the opposite of Dr. Holiday though, he treats Rex and I like soldiers, he complains every time Rex and I sneak out and he's kinda awkward to be around. But in between that, I know he's always worried like doctor when I get hurt. And you know what I think? I think Holiday and Six have a thing for each other. I may be 13, but I'm not stupid._

_Bobo...can't say he's the family pet because that would offend him. He's more of like a brother's best friend that constantly visits us unexpectedly, except this friend lives with us instead. He's annoying and repulsive, but I still love the little monkey...or chimp, still not sure about his exact species._

_All in all, I think I know I'm living a good life. I feel at home. I don't care how much of a priss White Knight can be. Who needs a plain, boring family with a mom, dad and sibling? I've got a pretty doctor, a green ninja, a mechanized EVO and a talking monkey for a family. When I'm with them, I feel...complete_

And with that, Rex sobbed a little. He breathed. He thought he was his family! He feels at home with them. They make him happy and complete! The thought made Rex cry a little. Suddenly, he remembered where he was. He was still in the boy's room. He looked at the clock on another table. It was already 6:34 pm. He's been there for over 2 hours. He closed the book, wiped off one tear and quietly turned to the door. It was odd the 13-year-old was still in a deep sleep, but then again, he must've been tired from the session anyways. He opened the door and went out

_You're not like a brother to me, Adrian...you ARE a brother to me_, he thought and left, but didn't notice the video game sounds coming from Six's room. Seems like he was busy with something as well.

**Okay, I only made Rex's age 16 now because it was only now I've recently watched "Promises, Promises". Sorry about the age mix-up. Also, you may have noticed that the dates are based WAY into the future...I just want it to be that way, okay? *sigh* At least now I can get back to the real story. The fillers are just to show how much Adrian's grown up even though he's confined in the place, it shows he has a family in there. But there may be a few things that can ruin that family bond...I won't reveal anything else though. Hope you liked this!**


	29. Are we there yet?

**I wanna thank Tessdragon for the ideas you gave me so I can continue my story! Sorry for not updating soon, writer's block attacked me during the week. You know, I hate it when I'm running low on reviews, but as I've said before, I won't let not having reviews get to me. *sigh*...oh well, that's life, can't have everything and can't please everyone. Anyways, on with the story!**

Adrian woke up from his insanely long nap. He yawned and scratched his back. He got up, stretched a bit, put on his black denim pants and blue jacket, got his scooter and cruised through the halls. He had no certain destination, he just wanted to clear his mind and re-energize it after sleeping for a long time. After some time, he found himself somewhere at the rooftop for some reason, but decided not to waste the time he got there. He needed some fresh air anyways. He parked his scooter near him and lied down on the roof. It was a starless night, but the breeze was very calming and cool, not too cold like in his room. He closed his eyes for a while and though he was gonna have another nap, until he heard the comm link on his ear receive a call. He opened his eyes, reached for the button and lazily spoke

"Hn?"

It was Dr. Holiday calling him, "Come to the Briefing Room, you're needed there"

"Why?"

"I'm not sure, Knight just told us to do so" and the line went blank

Adrian got up and did as told, but he wasn't very happy about it. He was truly relaxing for a while outside Providence (technically speaking), and then it had to be ruined. He took his scooter and went down the elevator to the ground floor. He used his scooter and went through the door as it swooshed open. He saw Rex, Holiday, Six, and Bobo seated in front of a giant map of the world, and an empty seat next to Six and Rex. He sat on the chair and parked his scooter next to him

"What's goin' on?" he asked, whispering to Rex

"A mission" he explained bluntly

"About what?"

"I dunno. But it better be good, even Six is ticked off by this emergency mission" Rex replied, and he pointed at Six, who was sitting next to him, squeezing the stress ball Rex had given him before. Adrian got scared, but relaxed a little. Good thing Rex gave him that stress ball beforehand

The sound of static suddenly filled the room. They all looked at the giant screen in front and the image of White Knight appeared, with the regular scowl on his face

"What's the mission today?" Six asked

"We've found some interesting information involving Adrian" he explained. The moment Adrian heard his name, he knew this was gonna be new

"About me?" he repeated, making sure this wasn't a joke of some sort

"Yes. It seems we've found one of your family members"

"Who?" he asked with wide, eager eyes

"Your sister"

"S-Sarah"

"Yes"

Adrian was ecstatic at the news. Tears of joy suddenly started streaming down his cheeks when he heard they found his sister. They found her! Rex saw the happiness the news brought Adrian, and he smiled as well

"But there's a problem" the white man continued. This caused Adrian to stop his momentary celebration

"What problem?" Six interfered. White didn't answer. But, a red spot on the map appeared

"Isn't that where Abysus is?" Holiday asked wearily

"Yes. That's where Sarah Cruz is"

Adrian stopped being happy altogether, obviously because having your sister trapped with the enemy is something you're not supposed to be happy about. In fact, his emotions started to change altogether. He was mad...no, not mad... FURIOUS! His tears became that of sadness and he suddenly snapped, standing up from his place

"Why's she there? What happened to her? Is she hurt?" he asked hurriedly. He hit the table in anger. Rex came at him and tried to calm him down

"Yes, she is alive" he said. Adrian let out a sigh of relief and sat back down

"In fact, the Pack hasn't done anything to her of the sort. She isn't in trouble and no harm has been inflicted upon her. But in any case, you are to go to Abysus and rescue her" he continued

"Wow, I guess you aren't such a heartless guy after all" Bobo commented

"Don't push it" and the screen went blank

The team (consisting of Adrian, Rex, Six, Bobo, Holiday and 4 Providence agents) went to the landing bay, took Six's jump jet and set course for Abysus. Adrian was feeling nervous on the way to the place. He didn't know what to expect, but he was just insanely happy that his sister was back and alive

"I can't believe they found her" he absentmindedly said aloud

"Well, you better believe it, man!" Rex said, giving him a pat on the back. Adrian smiled a little and awaited their descent. It's already been an hour and they haven't arrived yet

"Are we there yet?" Adrian asked

"No" Six answered

Moments later, Rex chimed in

"Are we there now?"

"No" Holiday answered this time

A few more moments later, the two boys were getting very impatient

"Are we there yet?" they said loudly

"No!" The adults responded angrily. Even the soldiers at the back were starting to get pissed off by the kids' whining. 5 minutes later..

"A-" Adrian started, but was interrupted curtly by Six

"If you say one more word, I will personally hang you outside the jet!" he said, trying to hide the fact that he's very mad, but it's not exactly working. He's vigorously squeezing on the small, green ball in his hand

"I just wanted to say 'An apple would be good right now, can I have one?'. Is that so bad?" Adrian said innocently

"Food's at the back" Rex pointed out, playing along

"_Salamat_!" Adrian said (that's Tagalog for "Thanks")

He took off his seatbelt and went to the back. Six gripped the wheel tightly as he drove the jet. This kid's starting to get on his nerves even more! The 13-year-old came back with the red fruit in his hand, with one bite mark on it. He came back to his seat and continued eating it. After at least 10 more minutes, they FINALLY arrived at their destination. The boys were relieved, and so was Six. He didn't want anymore of their impatient wailing. They landed the jet in a secluded place full of trees, hiding the vehicle. They slowly went off and proceeded to go to the castle, trying their best not to attract any attention from any nearby EVOs. Luckily, they haven't so far. In a matter of minutes, they reached Van Kleiss' castle, they don't know what lies ahead, but a couple of secrets could be uncovered

**While I was writing this, I should actually be studying for my Periodical Exams. But too lazy to do it, I'm "smart" anyways.**


	30. Trouble

The team went in the castle cautiously. Six scoped the area with his binoculars and so far, it's safe and sound. They came out of their hiding place, but was greeted harshly by a bunch of vines wrapping around their bodies, arms and legs, raising them up the ground and incapacitated them. They struggled, but they couldn't break loose. They stopped struggling when they found out this was a waste of time, and energy. They shuddered a bit when they heard a small cackle from behind them

"Ah, Providence just can't seem to stay away from us now can they?" a deep voice with a suave accent said. The figure stepped out of the darkness and revealed none other than (obviously) Van Kleiss

"Where's my sister?" Adrian questioned, or more like demanded, Van Kleiss

"Your sister? Hmm...ah, yes. Your sister is in good hands, my boy. Not to worry" he replied with a sly grin

"If she's in your hands, what good could possibly come from it?" Rex commented. Van Kleiss motioned his hand and caused the vines to throw them into a nearby cell, but the Providence agents were immediately disposed of. Adrian looked at him horrifically as he slammed the door closed

"What's wrong?" Rex asked the younger boy

"Nothing. Van Kleiss just reminds me of a creepy snake guy thing on TV" he replied. Rex raised an eyebrow in confusion

"Okay...I don't know what you're talkin' about, but we gotta get outta here" he said, turning his hand into a big, metal fist, and started pounding on the walls, but to no avail since it's surrounded by vines, and they keep fixing themselves up. He tried drilling through the floor, but the vines rebuilt it too. The only other option was the metal door. He pounded on it, tried slicing it, and kicking it with his freight weight boots, but nothing

"Van Kleiss knows me too well. The doors are reinforced steel" he announced as he turned his feet back to normal

"Great! How are we gonna get out of here?" Adrian yelled impatiently

"Don't be too cocky, Adrian. We're gonna get out of here, don't worry. We'll find your sister too" Six said as he took out his swords and combined, making them look like some sort of tuning fork. At first, the boy was confused, but noticed that the door was suddenly reacting to it, as if it was being...attracted. But this was cut short when they heard an ultra-sonic scream on the other side of the door

"Circe?" Rex whispered to himself, hoping it was her. They heard it again, and the door burst open. It revealed the female EVO

"Wow, what did I miss?" she commented

"Circe!" Rex exclaimed happily. He ran up to her and hugged her tightly. Circe didn't respond, but smiled at this gesture

"Am I missing something? Rex...you never told me you had a girlfriend!" Adrian said, laughing a bit as well. Rex immediately let go when he heard this and blushed a bit

"What are you doing here?" Rex asked Circe

"To save you" she replied, "and them, of course" she added, pointing at the female doctor, the green ninja and the still laughing 13-year-old

"Come on, guys" Rex yelled. The latter followed, until they ran into some trouble. None other than Van Kleiss, Biowulf, and Breach

"Tsk, tsk, tsk Circe. I thought you were more loyal than that. I suppose it's because of Rex, isn't it?" Van Kleiss said. The two teens became uneasy

"No it's not!" they said in unison

"Whatever the reason, it's clear you're not fit to join us anymore. Destroy them!" he ordered, and of course, they did as told

Biowulf aimed for Six, as usual. Six brought out his katanas and defended. Van Kleiss summoned roots from the ground and held Rex back, but he brought his BFS and slashed them away quickly, and proceeded to cut out the rest of the vines Kleiss sent for him. Breach disappeared into one of her portal and sent a roundhouse kick right to Adrian's head, sending him down, but not knocking him out. Holiday grabbed hold of the girl's leg and sent her out the portal, but she immediately summoned another portal to catch her, sending her inside safely. Six was still defending himself from the canine's attacks. His claws have already gotten to his tie and a part of his left sleeve, but other from that, he's safe. He's managed to land a couple of slashes and scratches on him, slowing him down, so the minor injuries weren't much of a waste. Rex was starting to get tired of lugging around his sword too much, but didn't stop. Holiday and Adrian were still having trouble dealing with Breach, since she's pretty much everywhere. Suddenly, it hit Holiday why they were here in the first place

"Adrian!" she yelled at him. Adrian turned to her direction

"What?"

"We'll handle this! You have to go find your sister!" she ordered him

"I'm not gonna leave you guys alone here!" he said. From behind Holiday, a portal opened up, Adrian jumped in and knew Breach was going to attack. He managed to stop her, but now he's too far from the battle scene. He tried to go back, but Rex stopped him

"What're you doing? I have to help her!"

"No! You have to go and find your sister. Anything secondary comes later. Don't worry, I got their backs" he said with a smile, assuring him. The half EVO was left with no other choice. He ran down the halls while the others took care of the Pack

"Sarah! Sarah!" he yelled as he ran and ran

He was running faster and yelling louder when he couldn't hear anything from his sister. Anxiety began to overcome him as he wandered through the empty halls. Sweat drenched his skin. What happened to his sister? Where is she? How are Rex and the gang holding up? These crazy questions began flooding up his mind. He was so preoccupied with these thoughts that he didn't realize he found a way to the top floor, walking right toward the edge. Gravity was so not on his side during those moments. He thought he was gonna die (again), but the fall was interrupted when something wrapped around his waist. They were long, slender and...very warm. It was the kind of warmth he was very familiar with. He got pulled into safety and landed butt first on...well he wasn't sure what he landed on, but he was certain it wasn't the floor

"What was?" he asked himself

"Hey! I think it would be best if you get off me before asking questions!" A female voice said. He did as told. He got off, cleaned himself up and tried to offer a hand to help the girl, but he saw she already got herself up, so he held back his hand. He stared at the girl for a while, recognizing her a bit but he didn't know her name

"Ah, Rex's girlfriend! You know, I can see why you guys got so close!" he commented. grinning all the while

"We're not involved, I'm not his girlfriend, he's not my boyfriend, got it?" Circe snapped, slightly annoyed at him

"Alright, geez! I was just teasin'!" he said

"Well, can't say I blame you. Adrian can't be Adrian without a bit of tease from you" she remarked

"Yeah, well...wait, how'd you know my...gah! That's not important right now! I've gotta go find my sis!" he yelled, walking past her and went toward the entrance back into the castle

"Why would you go look for her?" she asked

"Why would you care?" he replied, his back still turned. He was a few feet away from the entrance, until she spoke up again

"I meant, why would you go look for her if she's standing right here?"

This stopped Adrian right on his tracks. His foot was already halfway through the entrance. He turned around and looked at her

"What do you mean?" he asked nervously. Circe came closer to him, reached up and patted his head, ruffling his hair. She had to reach up otherwise she won't be able to touch his head

"Because it's me, li'l bro"

**Yeah, in the fight, I didn't want to include Skalamander because I'd just leave him out of it anyways. And the "creepy, snake guy on TV" Adrian was talking about, he was referring to Orochimaru from Naruto. I mean, don't you see the creepy resemblance between Van Kleiss and Mr. Snake Guy?**


	31. Tough Choice

**Sorry for being selfish, I've been focusing too much on Adrian, I know. So again...sorry, I'm just pretty new to this stuff**

Rex and the others sure are having a hard time dealing with the Pack. They were pretty much being strained from all the fighting, but they know it's for a good cause. Rex was gloating all the while at Van Kleiss, but the man just kept on going with his vines. He was getting so tired, but they needed to buy Adrian some time. Truth be told, deep down inside, Rex was jealous of him. He found his family, no drawbacks at all, so far. If he finds her that is. Very deep down inside, he knew he was being selfish when he says that he wishes he wouldn't find his sister. He didn't want to leave them, just as things were starting to go well between them. He was saddened at the thought that he would probably leave them after. His thoughts were cut short when Van Kleiss caught him

"My, my boy. If you ever want to win, you must keep your head in the game" Van Kleiss commented. Rex cut loose of the vines

"My head's been in the game since your head's cracked with madness!" he replied and charged towards the creepy man

"Sarah?" Adrian whispered, not believing what was right in front of him

"The one and only" Circe replied, "Wow, you're a lot taller than I remember" she commented on her "little" brother. Adrian, however, was still in shock. He, for obvious reasons, couldn't believe his own kin was siding with the enemy of Providence, the enemy of the world. In fact, he couldn't believe it at all

"No! You can't be my sister!" he yelled in anger as he took her hand from his head and swiped it away as if it was a fly

"Why? Is it because of my name? Just because I changed it a little, doesn't mean I can't be your sis" she wondered

"Well, there's that! And you don't exactly look like her, you know? If you're my sister, you gotta prove it!"

"Okay" she said and thought for a while. It was taking a little too long, and the boy was becoming impatient and doubtful

"I knew it" and Adrian started to walk away, until Circe stopped him, stepping right in front of him

"When you were 8, you thought Emma Roberts was your girlfriend...and you told everyone in your school" she said proudly, with the intention of embarrassing him. It worked, and it proved that she was his sister, she was the only one who remembered that! Adrian went on to her and hugged her tightly, literally lifting her off the ground

"It IS you! Oh, I can't believe it's you! Oh my gosh, I've missed you so much!" he said, still hugging her

"Wow! You've gotten stronger too! Now, unless you want to lose me again, I suggest you put me down" she exclaimed, seemingly running out of breath. Adrian let her down on the ground and let her breathe

"Sorry"

"It's alright. A death-hug is better than real death" she commented as they went back inside the castle

"Oh, and for the record, I'm over Emma Roberts" he remarked

"Really? Who do you like now? That pretty Dr. Holiday?" she suggested, eying him a bit suspiciously

"No!...maybe" he said too quickly, however, saying the last word very quietly

"Right"

"By the way, why'd you change your name?" Adrian asked her

"Well, I thought it would be cool to live a little incognito. And just so it could match my powers" she answered

"Nice" he replied

They continued walking and talking for a little more until the earth under them shook. They suddenly remembered where they were and what was going on

"REX!" they said in unison. They immediately ran down to the battle scene and saw it was getting worse. Rex's builds are starting to break down, and Six was already exhausted. Holiday was badly bruised by Breach's surprise ambushes

"We need to get out of here!" Adrian yelled, "They're too injured to continue this fight!" he added as he brought out his arnis sticks from behind him. He bashed through the battle and tried to get his friends out. However, instead of helping her bro, she was using her sonic screams to distract them, so the Pack could take them down. Adrian took most of the blows for them, however, trying to defend. He managed to tackle Van Kleiss, grab one of Six's katanas (that he dropped) and stabbed Biowulf with it, and knocked Breach out cold. It was hard, but it was good enough for all of them to escape

"Quick! To the jet!" Six yelled. Everyone followed. Adrian was almost to the ship until Circe grabbed his wrist

"No! Don't go!" she begged him

"Why?"

"We can stay here. Van Kleiss will accept me again after what I did"

"Well I CAN'T accept what you did. You betrayed us"

"You're betraying me if you don't stay"

"Why don't you come with us?"

"Because after everything that's happened, I doubt I can survive a day without a Providence agent wanting to kill me"

"But-"

"Please...stay" she pleaded. He didn't know what to do. So confused

"Adrian, come on! They're behind you!" Holiday yelled. Adrian was still thinking. Confusion was encircling his mind. He kept looking back and forth. This was a hard choice, especially for a kid like him. What's worse is it's time-pressured! He considers Providence his family, but all of a sudden his actual family shows up and...

"I'm sorry..." he said, a tear trickling down his cheek as he got loose of her grip and ran back to the jet. Circe looked sadly as the jet took flight and went away. The Pack stopped right behind the teenager

"Oh well, we'll get them some other time" Van Kleiss said, "And as for you Circe, your loyalties are faltering. You barely even know which side you're on"

Circe looked down in shame. It was true, she was confused. She loved Rex and protected him, but her loyalties to Van Kleiss and herself are conflicting with that. And now that her brother's involved, it's might be even tougher than she thought

Adrian looked sadly on the floor, not even looking at anyone since he got on the jet. Holiday knew something was worrying him, so she sat next to him and patted his back. He looked up and saw the good doctor trying to comfort him

"What's wrong? You didn't find your sister?" she asked, very concerned about him. Adrian turned his head away when he answered

"I don't want to talk about it. Just please leave me alone" he said in a weak tone. She knew a lot of things were bothering him, and she had every intention to find out, just not now, he needs his space. She just gave him a short hug and went back to her seat, with lingering thoughts, wondering happened during the 45 minutes when he was gone from their sight, and the next 1 minute before going to the jet.

**That's it for the chapter right now. And by the way, acekanigirl, thanks for the great advice! I know it WILL come in handy, especially with the way I write. And you know, I did mention in the second chap (in the author notes) that this is gonna be kinda AU, but, I'm just saying. And SOOO sorry for the rush on it! SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY!**


	32. Decisions, Decisions

One week has passed since the "rescue mission". White was informed it wasn't a success, but they still don't know why Adrian didn't come back with his sister. He hasn't talked to anyone directly the whole week, only when making a request like "Can you please pass the bowl?" or something simple like "Sorry" or "Excuse me". He wouldn't come out of his room, and would only do so when he needed to use the bathroom or eat. He won't even come out to have his daily "ride my scooter throughout the whole base" routine. Rex, Six and Holiday knew something was up and tried to find out on their own, but came up short. Rex tried talking to him after he came back from defeating EVOs, but he was avoiding him. Holiday caught him and talked to him for a while, but responded only with a nod or a shake of the head. He would only mumble the words when the question didn't require those kinds of answers, but he left the second she turned her head around. Six tried to spark up a conversation with him during training, but Adrian chose to ignore them, just went on with what he was doing. This was getting out of hand already. He was being too quiet for his own good. Being secretive wasn't like him.

One day, Rex finally had it with Adrian and his "secrecy". He hacked his room's control panel and went right in, only to find the boy behind the door ignored him. The boy was clad in a dark blue shirt and a pair of gray shorts. He was actually on an empty, brown table at the back of his room, staring at the small hole where a huge one used to be. Apparently, they didn't do a good job sealing it. There was a piece of paper on the table, and he was scribbling on it. He's been trying to get his mind off of everything that happened in Abysus, and so far, it's not working out too well for him.

"So, Adrian. Whatcha doin'?" he asked, coming in further to the room, noticing how awkward it was when he didn't notice

"Drawing" he answered bluntly in a quiet tone, not raising his head up to look at him

"Drawing what?"

"The desert landscape outside"

"Can I sneak a peek there?"

"Sure" and he gave him the piece of paper

The picture itself was pretty dry, not much color except the shading, but the detail was remarkable. Since it was a desert, there wasn't a lot of things on it, but the rocks, boulders, cliffs, the ground and sky for a background, but he did make it look good. Though some of the rocks looked a bit wonky

"Wow, seems like we've got an artist in the making!" he said with a smirk, handing him back the masterpiece

"Thanks"

A few moments of silence surrounded the boys, the only sound heard was the tapping of dots and the strokes made by the pencil. Rex broke it without hesitation

"So, what's been on your back this past week?" he asked, sitting on his bed

"What do you mean?" he said as he looked past his shoulder, staring at the teen and stopped drawing altogether

"Well, you've been kinda down and haven't talked too much to us. It's not like you, you know?"

"Oh...haven't noticed"

"So, what's been biting you?"

"It's just...that thing that happened with Van Kleiss, it was...unexpected" he replied slowly. Rex was relieved he finally answered him completely, though the reply wasn't exactly satisfactory as he expected something a little more straightforward

"What? Getting attacked?"

"No...when I separated from you guys to look for my sister, I got an...unexpected result"

Rex raised an eyebrow in confusion

"Look, can we talk about this some other time? I'm not really in the mood to-"

"Do you trust me?" Rex interrupted

"Uh...what does that have anything to do with-"

"Just answer the question. Do you trust me?"

"Well...yeah, 'course I do"

"Then tell me what's wrong"

"But-"

"Please?" Rex pleaded. He really wanted to know what was bugging his "little brother". If it was bugging him, then it's also bugging Rex himself.

Adrian was unsure of Rex's reaction on this even if he trusted him, but he went with the flow anyways

"Well...yeah, I went looking for my sister and...I...I kinda found out she's..." Adrian's voice was getting softer with every word he said, making him inaudible, but Rex was still able to understand him.

"She's...what?"

"I-In league...with...Kleiss" he continued, saying the last word VERY quietly

"League with what?"

"Van Kleiss" he said a little louder, but was still unheard by the teen. Rex cupped his ear to hear better

"What?"

"Van Kleiss, okay?" he snapped

Rex's eyes widened in astonishment as he breathed in a loud gasp. Adrian's sister? Working with Kleiss? Has the world gone mad? Or is it just mad at Adrian? By this time, Adrian started crying again. His tears came out because his dam of regret was overflowing, and he really needed to offload everything, but it's not getting any lesser. Rex was concerned. Even though he knows perfectly well that he ain't related to the boy, he acts as the consoling "big bro" in his life. He's willing to protect him from anything that bothers him no matter what happens, and he knows Adrian's intentions are the same about him, Six, Holiday and even Bobo. He put his hand on the half EVO's back, patting it and rubbing it lightly. In all honesty, he wasn't really one to comfort people, that was more on Doc Holiday's department. But since she's busy and he's the only one who knows what's goin' on, he might as well do his best to calm him down.

Adrian's dam is starting to crack, letting his tears flow harder. He wanted to scream, but held back, not wanting to show too much weakness in front of his "role model". He wanted to show him he has at least SOME control over his emotions. Rex continued trying to soothe the boy, trying to make him relax and just kept patting his back. Adrian started mumbling words to himself

"Why did she have to go in league with that guy? What's wrong with the world? What the heck did I do to deserve this?"

Rex was listening to the boy

"You know" Adrian finally spoke clearly, but he feels like there's a huge lump in his throat, causing his voice to sound scratchy and soft and caused him to gulp after every three words or so, "You'd probably be ticked off when I say this, but, your girlfriend is my sister. And she wants me to join the Pack with her"

And once again, Rex gasped. Circe? Related to Adrian? And she wants him to join the Pack? The fact he called Circe his "girlfriend" did tick him off a bit though, but he didn't show he was annoyed at it.

"Circe is Sarah? Wow, the world has gone mad" Rex muttered to himself, "Hey, why'd she change her name?" he asked the now whimpering boy

"She said she only changed it for incognito purposes, and so it could match her powers and stuff. I couldn't recognize her at first because she looked very different from the last time I saw her" he explained, sniffling a little and kept gulping back the lump stuck in his throat

"Oh...that's..." Rex said, but couldn't continue it. He couldn't exactly describe the situation the boy was experiencing right now. He knows he's felt something like that before, he just can't remember. That's what sucks about amnesia

"What do you think I should do about this?" Adrian asked the older teen, "Should I stay here? Or join my sister?"

Rex had his mouth agape for a while. He asked for his opinion. He was actually thinking about this! Of course, Rex can imagine why. He would leave one life behind if he actually had to choose. Decisions are never easy, they could alter your life almost completely. He looked back at Adrian. The boy seemed to be deep in thought as well, staring at whatever he could be staring at.

"I'm sorry...but...I dunno how this make choice. You gotta learn to make it yourself" Rex replied, seemingly guilty for answering like that

"Naw, it's alright. I shouldn't have asked in the first place. This is supposed to be my decision alone" Adrian answered back, "Can you please leave? I wanna be alone for now"

Rex complied to his request. He got up from the bed and turned to the door, opening it. He took one last glance at the boy before the door slid closed.

_That kid better make a good choice_, Rex thought to himself. As he was walking back to his room, he couldn't help but think of what conclusion Adrian might come up with. It could either help him and them, or help only him, not them. He knows Adrian wasn't one to make a selfish choice, but he doesn't know Adrian that well

Adrian was staring at the drawing he made. Like it, his mind was pretty much blank at the moment. He couldn't think straight when nothing was going on. His head was sinking low, and it eventually hit the table. He was still thinking though. It was a tough choice, but he's gotta make it sometime. Tears were still lightly trailing off his eyes and they wet the paper in front of him. After a couple more minutes, he came to his choice. He lifted his head up and knew just what to do.

**Ugh...I think I rushed on this too much. Oh, and Tessdragon, thanks for the ideas, maybe I can use them for future chapters or something. I've been attacked by writer's block again, if it wasn't for that, I would've updated earlier. I apologize *bows in respect*. So far, it's not a good summer vacation for me. By the way, HAPPY SUMMER SA MGA PINOY DIYAN! WHOO!**


	33. Search Party

**Wuzzup! Okay, I just recently watched "Divide By Six" and it was freakin' awesome, man! Total action and stuff, and Six took off his glasses (I'm just pointing it out, I'm not making a big deal about it, though it seems a lot of people are)! Anyways, on with the story!**

Holiday was on her way up to Adrian's room, with a tray full of food in her hand. Rex told her everything (Six just didn't want to be involved) and she thought that the boy might need some alone time, so she decided to bring him supper so he can eat it on his own instead. When she arrived at her destination, she knocked on the metal door, its sound echoing through the empty hall. No answer. She knocked again, only louder. Still no answer. _Maybe he's asleep_, she concluded. Her last resort was punching in the code to his room (yeah, she knows it by heart), and that's exactly what she did. She pushed the five digits to gain entrance and the door swooshed open

"Hey, Adrian" she called for the boy as she stepped into the room, "Rex told me everything, and I thought you might want to be alone for a while, so I brought your food here instead"

She went inside the room and saw the boy's sleeping form on the bed, a blanket covering him. She sat on the edge on the bed and laid the tray of food beside her. She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him, trying to wake him up

"Adrian...Adrian, wake up" she whispered, trying to wake him up. All of a sudden, she noticed something strange about his body. It was oddly...soft? She took out the sheets from his "body" and accidentally threw off the tray lying on the bed, spilling all the food on the floor. But that was the least of her worries. She ran out of the room and pressed the button on her comm link to call Rex

Meanwhile, Rex was in the kitchen, having dinner with Six and Bobo. He was eating as if he was trying to win a contest or something. No one can blame him. Ever since he ran away, his favorite food was actually meatloaf and mashed potatoes

"Wow, Six. You SERIOUSLY gotta cook for us more often. Better than Holiday's cooking, actually" Rex commented at the green ninja, taking another spoonful of mashed potatoes. Six made no comment and just forked up another piece of meat

"What? My cooking can be way better than any man in green's" Bobo rebutted, but he still liked eating the food served to him, taking huge amounts of the stuff

"REX!"

The teen cringed at the sudden noise in his ear. He then realized it was his comm link, with the good doctor on the other end of the line. He pressed the button on the device in his ear and replied

"Doc, you might wanna check the volume next time. You nearly deafened me"

Rex was listening to the call and suddenly spit out the mashed potatoes at Bobo

"HEY! Watch where you're spittin' your grub, kid!" he snapped, but Rex ignored him, continuing to listen to the call

"What? What happened? Where'd he go?" Rex yelled in a panicked state. He went silent for a while as he listened to her reply

"Okay, we'll be right over" he replied and took his finger off the button, ending the call

"What is it?" Six asked him, slightly worried

"We need to meet Doc at the landing bay" he replied

"Why?" Bobo asked, taking one last piece of meatloaf in his mouth

"Adrian's missing" he said firmly. The sudden reply from Rex caused Bobo to spit out his food

"HEY!" Rex yelled angrily at the monkey

"It's called karma" Bobo reasoned, but they knew they had no time to fool around. They ran hurriedly to the bay and saw Dr. Holiday there, in her Providence uniform

"Do you know where he is?" Six asked her

"No. He took off all his trackers. The ones on his clothes and the one on his scooter, so we can't track him with the radar" she explained

"You sure the kid didn't just leave to blow off some steam?" Bobo questioned

"No. He always takes me with him, because I'm his only transpo back home" Rex explained to the chimp, "So, where do we start looking?"

"We could start looking at the cities nearby, that's one of our best bets" Holiday explained

"And where do you think you're going?" they suddenly heard a voice say. It wasn't from behind, it all came from each of their communicators. It was none other than White Knight, the only thing stopping their search party for Adrian

"We're going to find Adrian" Rex said firmly as he replied to the burly man on the other end of the line

"No, you're not. It's too late in the night to start, and you're not going to arrange a search party without my authorization"

"Well then, give us the authorization!" Six rebutted

"I'm not going to do that"

"Why not?" Rex demanded

"That boy is of no use to this organization as of now. If you want a new recruit, I assure you we can find a replacement-"

"Listen here, White" Holiday interrupted, with a hint of aggression in her voice, "'That boy' has a name, and it's Adrian Joshua Denver Cruz. No one or nothing will replace him on this team, so I suggest you let us leave to find him. If you don't, I happen to have a jar full of active nanites in my office for experimentation, but as of now, I am not afraid of using them on you instead!" she explained to the man firmly, trying to intimidate him

As far as they can tell, the doctor's intimidation worked its magic and White allowed them eventually, on the condition that they return within 24 hours. Soon after hearing that, the team took off (after gathering the provisions they needed to survive 24 hours) with one of the jets and went to the nearest city, which was actually Adrian's hometown. They were split into two teams to make the search faster. Rex and Bobo started their search at the playground, Munchin' Mexican (they took a snack there too) and throughout the rest of the streets. Meanwhile, Six and Holiday started their search in a school nearby, the other playground on the other side of town and all the other buildings around. So far, they have no luck, and it's only been 3 hours. But they weren't about to lose hope, and they searched the next town, and the next and the next, but still nothing. 10 hours have past, and the sun was starting to rise. They grew tired and hungry, so they decided to go back to the jet, which is parked outside the city where they last looked. Rex settled for the left over taco he had from Munchin' Mexican while Bobo, Six and Holiday settled for the sandwiches they packed

"Where else could we possibly look for him?" Holiday asked, taking a bite of her ham and cheese sandwich

"I'm not sure, but we still have time, so we might as well make the best of it" Six responded while he had a bit of his tuna sandwich in his mouth

"Geez, Six, and you tell me to not talk when my mouth's full" Rex commented, finishing his taco

"Well, technically the guy's mouth isn't full. He tells you that cause when you take bites, it's as if your life depends on it" Bobo said while biting on his sandwich

"By the way, why'd you pack a sandwich with onions, pickles and bananas?" Holiday asked the chimp

"Because I like it. What, too weird for you?" Bobo asked her

"Yeah, it's weird! It's gonna make your breath stink!" Rex answered for her

"Oh, and like eating a pizza with cheese, anchovies and chocolate syrup is any more normal than that?" Six suddenly mentioned, deciding to suddenly join in

"You ate something like that?" Holiday asked the teen, seemingly disgusted

"Bobo dared me to eat it!"

"But you liked it"

"So what if I did, is that a crime?"

"Hello? Is anyone on this frequency?" a familiar voice said, interrupting the conversation. It was all coming from their comm links. A lot of static was interfering with the sound

"Six speaking, who is this?"

"It's Adrian"

The moment they heard this, they listened in more intently. At least now they know Adrian's safe and sound, but by the sound of his voice, he seemed scared and worried

"Glad to hear from you, Adrian" Holiday said with a sigh of relief

"Yeah, but, where are you?" Rex asked

"I'm in Abysus...again. Van Kleiss abducted me...again" Adrian replied

"Wow, that guy just won't give up, huh?" Bobo commented

"Don't worry, Adrian. We're coming, we're on our way" Rex said. Six rushed to the pilot's seat and revved up the engine. He pushed up a lever, flicked a couple of switches, pressed a series of buttons and the jet went airborne in no time. With a look of determination visible in their eyes, they all thought

_Hang on, Adrian. Help's on the way_

**Meanwhile, in Abysus**

Van Kleiss is sitting quietly on his throne, his elbow on an armrest while his chin lightly rested on it. He was awaiting a report from Biowulf. Soon enough, the purple canine arrived in front of his commander

"Well?" Van Kleiss asked

"Everything is going according to plan, master" Biowulf reported, kneeling on one knee to show respect. Van Kleiss smirked slightly but devilishly at this news

"So it must mean they're on their way to rescue the boy. Unfortunately, they have no idea what lies ahead of them" he whispered in a menacing tone

"Thank you for the news, Biowulf. Make sure Adrian is comfortable. After all, he'll be here for a while" he said, shooing away his minion. He still sat on his chair, but this time, he was assured that this time, his plan WILL work

**What's Van Kleiss up to? Is Adrian alright? Will Rex and the others make it in time? What did Van Kleiss mean by "Adrian's gonna be staying here for a while"? Why did Rex eat that weird pizza? And why DID Bobo pack an onion, pickle and banana sandwich? Find out next time on the next chap! (except the last two questions)**


	34. Interested

Rex and the others were riding full speed ahead towards the dark realm known to them as Abysus. Their hearts were pumping so hard, it was almost begging to rip out of their chests. Anticipation filled them up. They needed to save Adrian, even if it's the last thing they're about to do. Soon enough, the jet landed in the same place where it was when they last "visited". They sneaked around for a bit as they entered the shady castle. Anxiety was evident in their movements, shaky and nervous, but they had a purpose to be here, so they just had to suck it up.

Rex had thoughts on this as they approached and entered the dark castle. What was Van Kleiss up to? Why was Adrian involved? Either way, if he so much as lays a finger or claw on him, he was going to rip him to shreds, punch him to the ground, stomp on him and throw him out of the place. Six and Holiday were having the same thoughts, considering they were also concerned about the boy's safety.

After some sneaking around, they made it to the prison chambers. There were huge cellars and cages hanging from the ceiling. Like any other place in the castle, there were vines and roots creeping on the sides of the wall. They searched for Adrian behind every single door and even looked up to every single cage. Nothing, zero, zilch.

"Ugh. Where could Adrian be?" Rex whispered to his comrades

"You think we would've told you if we found him already" Six growled impatiently at him

"Let's just keep looking. He's bound to be here somewhere" Holiday told them and walked away. The three of them followed her lead.

They went up the stairs that was at the end of the hall. It was actually starting to get dark. Bobo took out a flashlight and passed it to Holiday, who was still in front. She took the flashlight and lit up the rest of the way to the top. They reached the last step and started wandering through the hall. She led the light to the floor, hoping she wouldn't step on anything gross or step on a faulty rock that would send her down

All of a sudden...Footsteps...

The sound of footsteps could be heard. A jolt went down their spines and it instantly scared them. The footsteps got louder, and there were more footsteps following that. The flashlight was still aimed at the ground, thus, not showing the figures clearly. The sound stopped. Holiday finally calmed herself down and raised the flashlight up so they could see properly. She aimed it up and saw the dark face of Van Kleiss. She dropped the flashlight out of shock and broke it, shattering the glass in front

"Surprised?" Van Kleiss said, and chuckled

"Where is Adrian?" Rex demanded immediately, wasting no time

"Adrian? Why would you want to see him?"

"Don't waste our time! Where is he?" Six said this time

"Hmph. Why don't I give in to some suspension first? I'll let you meet my new recruit, then I'll show you Adrian"

"We don't want to see another sap who's working for you!" Bobo rebutted

"Oh, but I assure you. You'll be very much interested once you see him" he said with a wide grin, "You can come out now!" Van Kleiss beckoned

Footsteps could be heard again. Loud and heavy. The four of them were getting impatient, but Van Kleiss insisted on it, so they just had to wait. You won't believe the shock they got soon after.

**Okay, that's it for this one! Sorry for not updating for a week. I consider that long already. And sorry for its shortness. I can't believe I got stuck with this one uber short chapter! *sigh* Oh well. I'll make it up for the next following chapters (hopefully)**


	35. Newbie

Out of the shadows, a tall figure appeared from behind. A huge, black boot stepped out first. He slowly made his appearance in front of them. The four of them looked at the newbie from bottom to top. He wore green cargo pants and a black tank top, showing off his developing muscles. He had pale skin, bright red eyes and messy black hair with two white streaks running along them. He seemed to have one fang sticking out the left side of his mouth. He was very familiar to the people from Providence. You wanna know why?

That was Adrian!

"What did you do to him?" Rex told Van Kleiss angrily, bringing out his Smack Hands. His face showed that he was more than ready to pound the man to pulp

"He didn't do anything" Adrian calmly answered, taking a step forward, "I came here willingly"

Rex gasped and his eyes widened, to the point that his pupils got smaller. His build broke down suddenly, the metal clanging with each other, causing a slightly deafening sound. His emotions were flooding up inside. Here he goes again, he can't calm down with all that's going on. Holiday checked Rex's bios on the screen she had. They were dropping like mad!

"Why? Why would you betray us like this?" Rex yelled in anger, wanting to attack him. Six knew what was going to happen and restrained him, with some assistance from Bobo. Rex came out of their grip easily and ran toward Adrian. He tried summoning a machine, but nothing came up, but he kept on running anyway. He lifted his fist threw it towards the boy, hoping it would clash. The half EVO avoided it effortlessly. He blocked his fist with his hand and used his other hand to throw him to the ground. The teen EVO fell in a heap, chin first. He got up slowly and tried to kick him on his head. He ducked his attack and got on his hands, kicking him in the stomach and sent him back.

"When'd he learn how to do that?" Bobo asked aloud

"I taught myself to activate some of my nanites. Not too much to cause me to go full EVO, but enough for me to inherit its abilities. And a little of its appearance" he explained, "I've been learning to do that a long time now. I've been saving it" he added, flexing his fingers a bit

"He's a smart lad, I'll give him that" Van Kleiss commented, patting Adrian's head

"Why'd you go with them, Adrian?" Holiday asked, slightly angered and slightly saddened that one of the boys she's cared for so much has gone to the dark side

"Because it was my choice. Rex said I need to make my own decisions, so this is what I've decided" he replied

"Yeah, but why?" Rex asked weakly, recovering from his fall

"For my sister" he mumbled, "I'm sorry Rex, but I'm with the Pack now. If you can't live with it, then take it with me!" he added, shooting him a cold look

Circe looked at Adrian. She knew the reason why he was here was because of her, but she knows he's not happy with the whole thing. It's as if he's just being asked to join and reluctantly accepted the invitation. Her gaze fell on Rex, who was right in front of them, looking very upset.

Rex was hurt badly. Not just physically from the defense tactics Adrian used against him, but because he suddenly left them like this, and to the people he hates the most. He could never hate the boy whom he sees as a brother. It's just not right! He almost wanted to cry, but knew this was no time, so he held back. He closed his eyes and got up slowly. His eyes fell on the boy, the boy he thought he knew clearly, but never seemed to know at all.

Six didn't hesitate in his next action. He charged toward Adrian, with nothing but his bare hands and feet as weapons. He jumped up and tried delivering an axe kick to him, but Breach stopped him immediately, using one of her huge hands to block the attack. Rex tried making another build, but it fell apart. He tried again, his sweat dropping due to a lot of effort. Nothing was coming up. Holiday brought out her gun, aiming at the pale girl, but Biowulf immediately came in front of her, knowing the attack would have no effect on him. Bobo brought out his laser guns and started firing like crazy. A huge crystal shield provided by Skalamander blocked it. Van Kleiss then extended out his golden arm and grabbed the agent on the ground. He lifted up and threw him at his comrades, sending them down as if they were bowling pins.

"We need to leave" Holiday told them, but Rex showed no sign of agreement with her

"I'm not leaving without Adrian!" he yelled, trying to come up with another build, but to no avail

"Rex, listen to her for once! Your bios are too low for you to fight. If we don't get out of here, we're done fore" Six said, holding Rex back and pulled him in by his shoulder

"Yeah! I'm too handsome to die!" Bobo exclaimed in slight panic

"Oh, retreating now? But you all just got here. Why not stick around a while longer?" Van Kleiss said, approaching them. Rex still had the ultimate will to fight, but Six grabbed him suddenly by the waist and ran off with Holiday and Bobo

"Gah! Six, what're you doing? We have to go get Adrian back!" Rex yelled, hitting the agent's back after slinging the teen over his shoulder. He saw the Pack get closer as they attempted a chase

"No! You're in no condition to fight and he's on the other side now. His choice is his choice" Six told him. They reached the jet, but a root caught Six's foot, causing him to trip and drop Rex into the jet. Six cut the root, but more came his way.

Rex saw Six in trouble. A sudden surge of energy went through him and he closed his eyes for a sec, letting his new found strength envelope him. When he opened his eyes, his right hand had transformed into a giant, orange sword

"Alright, we're back in business!" Rex exclaimed happily, jumping off the ship and cut through the roots restraining his aggro-nanny. He cut a few more that came his way and went for an all-out battle with Van Kleiss

Van Kleiss summoned a huge tree and lifted him up off the ground. Rex immediately climbed up a diagonal side of the plant and slashed away any branches that were in the way. Biowulf started chasing him to keep him from getting to his master, but Six threw a katana right through him, sending him down. The metal canine took the sword out of himself and threw it aside, running towards the green man, picking a fight with him. Six ducked as Biowulf made a jump for him and made his way to his other weapon. Breach's portals appeared and tripped him up, leaving the katana out of reach. Holiday got out of the jet and took out the heavy artillery weapons from the back. She began firing them at the portals that Breach made, hoping it would attack the girl. The bullets and small missiles made their target and sent the four-armed girl down, while Six made his way to get his twin weapon back. Circe let out a loud scream, distracting the doctor and set her weapon down. She then let out another scream which threw the doctor back into the jet. Bobo came out with a huge missile launcher, bigger than the one that Holiday brought out. He aimed at Van Kleiss, but Skalamander hit the weapon with his crystal arm, crushing it. Within a second, Bobo brought out his laser guns and fired at the lizard EVO, hitting him as he was not prepared for the attack

"Payback" Bobo whispered as he blew away the smoke from his gun

Rex was still running up the huge tree, waving his sword around to cut down the branches in his way. Van Kleiss was finally in sight. He lifted up the blade and dropped it, cutting the Abysus master in half. Rex then took out his Boogie Pack and picked up Six and Bobo from the scene, lifting them back to the jet

"Doc, hit the engine!" he told her. Holiday nodded and went to the controls as fast as she could. The EVO bad guys were running after them, but the door closed before they even stepped on it. The jet went airborne and it flew off at a fast pace

"Hmph, he got away again" Van Kleiss said, after reassembling himself from his soil, "Not to worry, as long as we have Adrian on our side, we WILL get him" he said with much determination. Adrian looked up in the red sky, right where the jet was before it sped off

Rex looked out the window of the jet and saw Abysus was now out of sight...and so was Adrian. He went back to his seat and sighed heavily

"You okay there kid?" Bobo said, trying to comfort his human friend

"No, 'course I'm not okay!" he yelled angrily, "Adrian's with Kleiss now! How can I deal with that?" he yelled again, his voice getting louder. He gripped the hair on his head, wanting to tear them off and feel the pain, wanting to kill the one that was already inside of him. He slumped over and stared at the ground

"Don't worry, Rex. We'll get him next time" Six told him, laying his hand on his back. Rex lifted himself up and swatted the agent's hand away. He covered his eyes, trying to hold back the tears that was starting to form in his eyes.

Holiday looked over her shoulder and saw the teen EVO, crumbling to the ground. She couldn't really imagine what it's like, losing someone new to you. One thing she can relate to though, was she can't imagine her life without him, without Six. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't be who she was now. Like how Rex can't imagine his life without his "little brother". But now, it's happening, and he didn't think it would hurt this much. The doctor looked back to the front, where Providence HQ was well in sight. She still pondered about Rex and Adrian though. The two were "brothers", inseparable. But now look what happened.


	36. Thoughts

Rex was in his room, bouncing his favorite red ball against the wall. He was still upset their mission hasn't gone on according to plan. And now his room reeks of pickles and onions because of Bobo. What could be worse?

The door swooshed open and revealed the figure of Dr. Holiday. She knew, for obvious reasons, a lot was bugging Rex, so she decided to stop by and see if anythingwas wrong. And now here she was in front of Rex, who ignored her above all reason. He was still playing with the crimson sphere in his hand and just greeted her with a simple "Oh, hey". It was rather unusual for her, since he'd usually start with a pick-up line or a brag, but she knew why he wasn't the guy of optimism he usually was today.

"Rex, are you okay?" Holiday asked him. Rex didn't reply and kept playing with his ball. The good doctor let out a heavy sigh and started talking again

"I know it's been hard after you found out about Adrian but-" Holiday started, but was interrupted by Rex

"Who cares? Does it even matter?" he told her. He stopped playing with the ball and sat up, setting it aside

"Remember, he said it was his choice. If he wants to side with that freak and be with his sister, then fine!" he yelled out frustratingly. He lied back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He sniffled a little

Holiday looked at him. She knew it was really bugging him. He couldn't let things off just like that, it wasn't like him. She got closer to him and patted his head

"Rex, this isn't like you. Usually you'd be begging White for another mission to rescue him. Heck, even try to break out of here to save him" she told him

"It's different this time. Not a lot of things can change my mind, doc" Rex said, turning his back to her. He stared at the metal wall as the good doctor talked to him

"I know you're not going to live this down. That's not the cocky 16-year-old I know. The Rex I know would burst out no matter what happens"

Rex didn't reply. He was just thinking about the things that she had said. Holiday stood up and walked to the door

"I know you'll do the right thing, Rex" she told him, looking over her shoulder and looked at the boy, who seemed to be paying no attention to her. "Come down for dinner when you're ready" and the door swooshed closed. Rex turned and lied on his stomach, his cheek on the white pillow under his head. He was still thinking about everything, taking it in slowly. He closed his eyes and decided to skip dinner for the night. A tear trickled down his cheek as he slept

Back in Abysus, Adrian was on the highest top of the castle, the roof of the dungeon. The dungeon itself has been turned into his room. His clothes were still in his bags even though he's already been living there for 2 days, mostly because there wasn't a closet. He didn't like sleeping in there, but if he slept on the roof, he knows he'd be killed by some random EVO that lives here in Abysus too. But he just stayed up there right now, to get some "fresh air". Circe had been looking for him the whole time. She thought of coming to the rooftops since she knows he likes being "on top". She climbed up and saw her little bro lying down on the bare stone roof

"Hey" she greeted him

"Oh, hey" he greeted back, lifting his head up a bit to see her. Circe came closer to him

"Mind if I stay here with you?" she requested

"_Sige_"

She laid down next to him, folding her arms under her head, supporting it

"How'd you know I was here?" Adrian asked his sis

"I know you far too well not to know" she replied, "You always like being "on top of the world", especially when you've got a lot on your mind" she added

"What makes you think I have a lot on my mind?"

"Because you're here"

Adrian chuckled at her answer. She was right though, he's been thinking a lot lately about everything that happened just 2 days ago, when Rex came for him. He knows he feels betrayed for siding with Kleiss, but he said he needs to make his own decisions...so this was his. He breathed out a heavy sigh. Circe glanced at him and softened her gaze. Adrian always thought things through, but somehow, she doubted he actually let this even pass through his mind. But once someone's made the choice, they can't simply turn back at it.

Adrian stared into the red sky, the warm winds flowing into his hair. He let one hand run through his follicles to soothe him. His sister was important, his life in Providence was too. It was so weird how he came to this. He and his sister just used to be part of a half-Filipino, half-American family. They were raised in the Philippines and they moved to America 6 months ago, way after the Nanite Event.

"Hey sis" Adrian called

"Hm?"

"How come you left me in Providence? Why didn't you come with me?" he asked

Circe thought about her answer, thinking how she would actually deliver it to him, "When I left you there, it was to protect you. I don't really think they'd let me in because I wasn't an EVO yet. Remember what that guy said, it was a government agency, not exactly a daycare center"

"Oh"

"And, I knew they wouldn't hurt you because you're special. I know they wouldn't dissect you out of instinct" she added

"I see"

Moments of silence passed between the two siblings, until Adrian brought something up

"You know? It's weird"

"What is?" Circe asked him

"Most siblings or teens our age fight, worry about appearances, social status and street cred. Us, we have to worry about not dying in the middle of this war most of those people aren't aware of and fighting EVOs" he explained

"Well, you gotta remember li'l bro. We're not "most people"" she reasoned

"Right. We're "those people""

""Those people"?"

"Those people who aren't most people"

"Haha, nice one"

Adrian sat up and stretched, letting out a tired yawn. He scratched his back

"Hey, I'm gonna turn in early" he told Circe

"Okay, bro" she replied, sitting up as well. Circe wiped some of the dirt that was on the back of Adrian's gray shirt

"Thanks _Ate_" he said, looking to his left as she was now sitting up too

"For what?" she questioned

"For being here. And for cleaning my back"

"Heh, anytime bro"

Adrian stood up and stretched again

"G'night sis" he bade

"Night" she bade back

Adrian jumped down the roof and grabbed on to a pole above a window, leading to his room. He jumped inside and walked to his "bed". It was actually a slanted rock structure that looked like a bed with a bit of cloth under it. He lied down on it, his head facing the ceiling. He let out another heavy breath before finally closing his eyes and let the sandman work his magic on him.

Circe jumped the opposite direction and landed on another rooftop. She leaped from each one until she reached the right floor where her room was. She opened the rusty metal door, entered and closed it. Inside was a small drawer containing some of her clothes and on top of it is a framed picture of young Adrian and her, playing in the playground, obviously on the swings. She walked towards the drawer and held in her hand the photo. She touched the glass over the photo and traced the outline of Adrian. A smile crept up at the corner of her mouth, but a tear left her eye. She was happy that her little brother was here, but she was sad because she knows he's not happy with it. She put the picture down and got on her bed (yes it was an actual bed) and lied down, going to sleep

A figure sneaked around the halls of Providence, not making a peep of sound come out of his movements. He slowly made his way outside the landing bay and stopped

"Okay. Bios are at their peak. I've got a good rest" he whispered to himself, "It's time to go!"

Rex put on his goggles and summoned his Boogie Pack. The propellers started turning, causing it to release the sound of a low hiss. Rex turned to see if anyone's noticed. So far, no one knows.

"Okay, Adrian. I'm on my way!" he yelled as he soared through the night sky

He's never going to give up on Adrian. Not now, not ever. He picked up his speed as he flew on and on, not wanting to waste any time.

**Here's the next chapter, showing a little more of Adrian's history. Oh, and "_Ate" _is what you call an older female in Filipino. It can be a relative or someone just older than you. It varies sometimes. And "_Sige_" means "Okay; Sure". To be honest with myself and you guys, I don't particularly like this chapter. It pretty much repeats itself. *sigh***


	37. Time to Think

**Sorry for not updating for a long time. I've been ignoring this a lot lately and I think my chapters are getting shorter and crappier. *sigh***

Adrian got up a few minutes after closing his eyes and rolling around on his "bed". He drowsily looked around and sat up slowly. Despite being very sleepy, he couldn't find the will to do so and just slouched over

_I bet it's the guilt trying to haunt me_, he decided. He clutched his chest and slowly started to squeeze it through the gray cloth he was wearing, attempting to get rid of the guilt. He squeezed harder, but it just gave him more pain and a pinkish mark on his chest

"This isn't working" he whispered to himself sadly. He stood up and rubbed his back, stretching and bending it as well. That "bed" really did its job, and that's break his spine. His eyes scoped around his room and they landed on his big, black scooter (how do you think he got there?)

_It's the only way_, he thought. It was true, riding on his scooter was his only way other way of clearing his mind without tiring him out too much

He lazily walked up and went to his bags first. He took out a dark blue vest and threw it on. Next, he slid across the room and grabbed the scooter by its handlebar. He dragged it across until he got to the metal door and opened it as quietly as possible, which is very hard since it was really rusty. It made squeaking and cracking sounds, but since he was in an entirely different floor from the others, it wasn't much of a big deal. He closed the door, once again quietly, and then placed his foot on the board. He swiped his foot off the floor, gliding roughly through the hall. He had to carry his scooter all the way downstairs since it was a pretty short ride. After riding through a couple more floors and halls, he decided this wasn't going to work. Instead of going to and fro, he went down to the ground floor and scooted outside instead. He was pretty sure he would be safe for the meantime, especially at this time of the night.

Rex had been flying around for nearly 2 hours now. He was getting very impatient with the whole trip he made.

_Man, I should've really have thought about this. Maybe I should've just hacked a jet instead_, he thought, slightly upset and annoyed. He'd been looking at the huge, green trees below for quite some time now. He lifted his head up before suddenly realizing he might end up getting a stiff neck. Up ahead, the sky wasn't in a dark blue hue, it was dark red. He gulped in nervousness but had a determined look set on his young face

"I'm getting you out of here, Adrian" he told himself, flying faster

The half EVO boy roamed around a while longer through the woods, looking around a bit as well. This place sure was bigger than he thought. He tried his best to avoid some of the cracks on the dry ground so he wouldn't fall off. But at the same time, he looked up at the dead trees around

_Wow, if Van Kleiss used to control nature, you'd think he would've used that power to fix this place up_, he thought to himself, joking a little. He got lost in his thoughts so much that he ignored the fault on the ground and he tripped up.

The wheel went over the fault and gravity did the rest. He got thrown off his scooter and fell on solid ground. He was thrown a little forward than intended so he got a few scrapes and got a deep cut after his arm met with a thorny branch nearby.

_Gotta go back to treat this thing_, he decided.

He stood up on his feet and took off his vest. He wrapped one part of it over his wound. Then, he lifted his scooter, boarded it and held on to the space between the two foam-covered handlebars. He peddled off and tried to keep his balance. Riding a scooter with one arm was harder than he intended it to be, but he knows no matter how small the injury, it could mean a big problem when it gets infected. He rode on faster, peddling furiously and trying his best to avoid the obstacles in his way. However, you can't avoid everything. A flat rock stood in his way, unnoticed and he tripped up again.

"Ow..." he groaned to himself. He pushed himself up. Successfully, he stood on the ground and just dragged his scooter across.

_ROAR!_

He heard. The earth shook rigorously and loud roars, snarls and moans were heard. It was deafening to his sensitive ears, but he didn't stop running. He had to get away, and he had to treat the wound. He ran frantically, but the earth shaking made him lose balance (again) and he let go of his scooter and the vest turned in loose, opening up the wound again. When he turned around while still on the ground, he saw a huge, slightly humanoid EVO just right there. Its green, slitted eyes stared at him, with the intent to kill. The monster started to lift one of his eight giant fists and aimed it at him

"Oh man!" he yelled in frustration. He knew he was in no condition to fight, so he simply awaited his untimely demise, too shocked to move and shut his eyes tightly, crossing his arms in front of him in a childish attempt of defense.

**Well, this was short. Anyways, I really hope I'll be able to write the next chapter sooner...hopefully**


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